Mob Violence
Threats to the original 13 Freedom Riders increased dramatically as they entered Alabama. Photographs in this section document the mobbing and firebombing of the Greyhound bus carrying Freedom Riders just outside Anniston, Alabama. Only the second bus made it to Birmingham, where the remaining Riders were beaten by members of the Ku Klux Klan and besieged for hours in the terminal by a white mob.
Mob surrounds Greyhound bus in Anniston, May 14, 1961
Joe Postiglione, Anniston Star
At the bus station in Anniston, Alabama, on Mothers Day, 1961, a mob swarmed the Greyhound bus carrying half of the first group of Freedom Riders. A young member of the Klan sat in front of the bus to block it; others smashed windows. Belatedly, police cleared the way for the bus to leave, but the mob had slashed the tires of the bus, leading to its breakdown six miles outside of Anniston on Highway 202.
Riders outside burning bus outside Anniston, May 14, 1961
Joe Postiglione, Anniston Star
A mob followed the first Freedom Riders’ bus out of Anniston. When the Greyhound broke down, the mob rocked, smashed, and eventually firebombed the bus, at the same time trapping the riders inside. Only when an explosion scattered the mob could Riders emerge. Freedom Rider Mae Francis Moultrie is visible in this photograph.
Hand-drawn map of Highway 202, Anniston bus burning site, May 14, 1961
Bus burning outside Anniston, May 14, 1961
Joe Postiglione, Anniston Star
Freedom Riders Ed Blankenheim and Joe Perkins on Greyhound bus; state agent Ell Cowling in foreground, May 14, 1961
Joe Postiglione, Anniston Star
Unknown to the Riders, Ell Cowling and another plainclothes agent of the Alabama Highway Patrol were on the bus to gather information for the state. Cowling ended up playing a role in keeping the mob off the bus.
Freedom Riders and passengers after bus attack, May 14, 1961
Joe Postiglione, Anniston Star
Once off the bus, Freedom Riders and regular passengers in need of medical attention faced more obstacles. An ambulance driver initially refused to transport Black passengers to the hospital, and Klansmen threatened the Anniston hospital building.
Freedom Riders Albert Bigelow and Joe Perkins after bus attack, May 14, 1961
Joe Postiglione, Anniston Star
Burke Marshall memorandum
May 18, 1961