Inspired by the Journey of Reconciliation of 1947, Freedom Riders embarked on a bus trip from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans to test the 1960 Supreme Court decision in Boynton v. Virginia, which affirmed the right of interstate bus passengers to be served in bus terminal facilities without discrimination.

Summary of Boynton v. Virginia, 1961

Led by Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) director James Farmer and including John Lewis, the original group of 13 Freedom Riders left Washington, D.C. on May 4, 1961. Along the 1500-mile route to New Orleans, where they would commemorate the seventh anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education on May 17, the Freedom Riders planned to contravene de facto segregation rules in bus terminal waiting rooms and restaurants.

At the Greyhound terminal in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on May 10, white people blocked John Lewis’ entrance to a segregated waiting room. “I have the right to go in here on grounds of the Supreme Court decision in the Boynton case,” Lewis said.