Colvin was born Claudette Austin in Montgomery, Alabama, on September 5, 1939, to Mary Jane Gadson and C. P. Austin. Colvin later moved to New York City. Now, more than 65 years later, shes filed a motion for the juvenile courts to seal, destroy, and expunge her records. Use one of the services below to sign in to PBS: You've just tried to add this video to My List. The Alabama teenager didnt budge when she was told to vacate her seat for a white woman and joined a lawsuit that brought an end to her city's segregated bus laws, but she received little recognition at the time for her efforts. WebSeptember 5, 2023. That didn't mean she was willing to go along with the status quo, however. WebClaudette Colvin was born on September 5, 1939, in Birmingham, Alabama. The black community was starting to hail her as a pioneer in African-American civil rights movement when she discovered that she was pregnant. The police were called and they dragged a crying Colvin off the bus. Claudette Colvin and her guardians relocated to Montgomery when she was eight. I knew then and I know now that, when it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. When Parks was asked to move to the back, she refused, and like Colvin she was arrested. Colvin decided to speak about her case only after she retired as a nurses aide in New York City, New York in 2004. WebClaudette Colvin was born on September 5, 1939 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA. WebBirthday: September 5, 1939 ( Virgo) Born In: Montgomery, Alabama, United States 90 9 Civil Rights Activists #27 Activists #184 Quick Facts Also Known As: Claudette Austin Age: 83 Years, 83 Year Old Females Family: father: C. P. Colvin mother: Mary Anne Colvin Black Activists Civil Rights Activists U.S. State: Alabama, African-American From Alabama Public DomainThe NAACP threw their weight behind Rosa Parks, not Colvin, who refused to move to the back of a Montgomery bus nine months later. WebClaudette Colvin was born on September 5, 1939, in Birmingham, Alabama. Claudette Colvin refused to give up her bus seat to a white woman in Montgomery, Ala., in March 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks. However, others have suggested that Colvin becoming pregnant after the incident was what caused her to be passed over. Born in September 1939, Colvin was raised by her great-aunt and uncle in rural Pine Level, Alabama, before moving to Montgomery at age 8. And as one might expect, Parks loved Colvins story about her bus protest and she would reportedly make her tell it a million times.. Claudette Colvin was born on September 5, 1939 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA. At first, Claudette Colvins arrest was seen as a huge deal among civil rights leaders who wanted to use her case to further their cause. Claudette Colvin aged 15. On March 2, 1955, she was arrested at the age of 15 in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a crowded, segregated bus. Joseph Rembert said, If nobody did anything for Claudette Colvin in the past why dont we do something for her right now? He reached out to Montgomery Councilmen Charles Jinright and Tracy Larkin to make it happen. While still a teenager, she became pregnant with her first child. Williams is the first Black judge to serve in Alabamas 15th Judicial Circuit Court. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and continues to fight for DC statehood in her third decade as a congresswoman. She attended a high school for African American students, where she was inspired by Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and other important African Americans in history. Women not only represented leadership in the movement, but they also handled the day to day planning for protesters. Colvin and her classmates also discussed the unfairness of segregation. WebClaudette Austin was born in Birmingham, Jefferson County, to Mary Jane Gadson and C. P. Austin on September 5, 1939. However, since she became pregnant soon after the incident, black civil rights activists refused to recognize her as a pioneer. She was born alongside her late sister Delphine who died of polio. Thank you for helping us improve PBS Video. In 1955 at the age of 15, nine months before Rosa Parks, she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery Bus. You cant sugarcoat it. Colvin never married but gave birth to two sons, the first was Raymond Colvin (b. December 1955, died 1993). Claudette Colvin occasionally spent time at Rosa Parkss apartment. However, her pioneering efforts never received wide-spread recognition or approval from the community due to her age and certain social factors. She learnt about the civil rights movement in school and was a member of the NAACP Youth Council. Colvins bravery helped start a civil rights trial to end bus segregation in the city. In the end, Rosa Parks became the symbol of the movement. The "right" person arrived when Parks, a 42-year-old seamstress and NAACP secretary, made headlines for her arrest on December 1, prompting the launch of the Montgomery bus boycott the following day and the national rise of its charismatic leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Thus she went to New York in 1958 where she first lived with her elder sister. This was a time of intense racial divide, and Colvin was a victim of it along with the rest. Although the movement is best known for catapulting the career of a young reverend, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the boycott was largely planned and executed by African American women. The motion represents long overdue justice, said Ensler. Colvin. In July 2014, Claudette Colvin's story was documented in a television episode of Drunk History (Montgomery, AL (Season 2, Episode 1)). Claudette Colvin was an African American teenager who, in 1955, was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white person. Her parents were Mary Jane Gadson and C.P. She never got married, and her first son sadly died at age 37. The historic court case to which Claudette Colvin became one of five plaintiffs, Browder v. Gayle, 142 F. Supp. Colvin said she felt proud. This incident took place just nine months before the famous Rosa Parks sparked the 9055 Montgomery Bus Boycott. When two Montgomery police officers arrived, Colvin still refused to move. Claudette Colvin Family. In September 2016, the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, unveiled a permanent Rosa Parks exhibit. Before long, more than 100 letters of support flooded into Montgomery. Weve been busy, working hard to bring you new features and an updated design. In late 2022, Colvin petitioned the Montgomery Circuit Court to expunge her 1955 arrest record, and on December 16, 2022, Montgomery Circuit Court judge Calvin Williams cleared her of all charges. Three days later, the Supreme Court affirmed the order to Montgomery and the state of Alabama to end bus segregation the Montgomery bus boycott was then called off. She had two sisters, Delphine and Velma. At birth, she was adopted by C. P. Colvin and Mary Anne Colvin, who lived in a poor neighborhood in Montgomery, Alabama. The boycott culminated in the desegregation of public transportation in Alabama and throughout the country. Claudette Colvin with Montgomery Mayor Steve Reed, shortly after she asked for her juvenile arrest record to be expunged. The Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) looked into her case and initially raised money to appeal her conviction. The daughter of Mary Jane Gadson and C. P. Austin, she was born Claudette Austin. Her father abandoned the family, which included a sister, when she was a small child, and the two girls went to live in Pine Level, Montgomery County, with an aunt and uncle, Mary Anne and Q. P. Colvin. This occurred some nine months before the more widely known incident in WebColvin was born on September 5, 1939, in Birmingham, Alabama, and later lived with her family in Montgomery. Claudette Colvin was born on September 5, 1939, in Montgomery, Alabama. Shes famous for being arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a crowded, segregated bus. She and three other Black students were told to give up their seats for a white woman. In recent years, the now-81-year-old Colvin has become more well known, largely thanks to the award-winning book Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, which was published in 2009. March 2 was named Claudette Colvin day in Montgomery. I paid my fare, its my constitutional right, the teen, who had been studying Jim Crow laws in school, yelled in a squeaky voice. Every day is a holiday!Receive fresh holidays directly She had another baby boy while living in New York. Now 82, she says that justice from the court system is overdue. Colvin is 83 years old as of September 2022. In 1956 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the women, making segregation on buses illegal. When Austin abandoned his family, Gadon had to send young Claudette and her sister, Delphine, to live with their great uncle and aunt, Mary Anne and Q.P. If she sat down in the same row as me, it meant I was as good as her, Colvin later told The New York Times. Austin, but she was raised by her great-aunt and great-uncle, Mary Ann and Q.P. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. On March 2, Colvin was riding the bus home from school when the familiar order came from the driver to vacate a row of seats to accommodate a white woman. And the judge on Colvins case, Calvin L. Williams, also sees her as someone to admire, not condemn. Photograph: AP. Such practical considerations left the city's African American leadership divided on howand whetherto challenge the city's segregated buses. Rosa Parks, who would make history later that year for her own act of resistance on a Montgomery bus, was a friend of Colvin's mother and was particularly moved by the young girl's arrest. WebClaudette Colvin (born September 5, 1939) is a retired American nurse aide who was a pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement. Riding on the city's buses was a daily affront to African Americans, but the arrest of Colvin and her treatment by police affected the city's black population in a way that earlier incidents had not. Claudette Colvin was born on September 5th, 1939 in Montgomery, AL. She went to Booker T Washington high school. In 1955, a Black woman refused to yield her seat to a white person on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Later, Rev. toyourinbox. She learned about Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and other important African Americans in history. Shes famous for being arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a crowded, segregated bus. She moved to New York at the end of the decade and decided to remain there for good after King's assassination in 1968. Her parents were Mary Jane Gadson and C.P. Mayor Todd Strange presented the proclamation and, when speaking of Colvin, said, She was an early foot soldier in our civil rights, and we did not want this opportunity to go by without declaring March 2 as Claudette Colvin Day to thank her for her leadership in the modern day civil rights movement. 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WebClaudette Colvin (born September 5, 1939) is a retired American nurse aide who was a pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement. She was charged for failing to comply with the segregation rules and pleaded not guilty. After all, she was just a young girl! Did you know Jane Addams had a spinal defect that required surgery? Claudette Colvin was just 15 when she made her stand. In July 2014, Claudette Colvin's story was documented in a television episode of Drunk History (Montgomery, AL (Season 2, Episode 1)). She was convicted of disturbing the peace and violating the segregation law. Claudette Colvin aged 15. Colvin. On March 2, 1955, she was arrested at the age of 15 in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a crowded, segregated bus. You have to take a stand and say, "That is not right." Colvin. You may think you know the story, but this one isn't about Rosa Parks it's about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old who made a stand against entrenched segregation nine months before Parks did, but saw her shining moment eclipsed as other narratives of the era took root in the public consciousness. Colvin. Colvin and her classmates also discussed the unfairness of segregation. Colvin got her chance on March 2, 1955, when she boarded a bus in downtown Montgomery. Dudley M. Brooks/The Washington Post via Getty ImagesClaudette Colvin in 1998. She knew that in 1955 she would be arrested for protesting segregation laws but she did anyway and helped pave the way for the overturning of segregation laws in Alabama. Your report has been successfully submitted. Although Colvins actions predated the more famous actions of Rosa Parks by nine months, she is much less well known. Her father abandoned the family, which included a sister, when she was a small child, and the two girls went to live in Pine Level, Montgomery County, with an aunt and uncle, Mary Anne and Q. P. Colvin. Born to Mary Jane Gadson and C. P. Austin, Colvin and her family moved to Montgomery, AL, when she was eight years old.
This civil rights activist has been a constant voice speaking up against racial prejudice. Colvin was promptly arrested and taken to the city jail where she was charged with disturbing the peace, violating the citys segregation ordinance, and assaulting policemen. So she thought shes been on probation this entire time, Ensler explained. In July 2014, Claudette Colvin's story was documented in a television episode of Drunk History (Montgomery, AL (Season 2, Episode 1)). Colvin was asked by the driver to give up her seat on the crowded bus for a white passenger who had just boarded; she refused. She was born alongside her late sister Delphine who died of polio. You've just tried to add this show to My List. I just dont want us to regress as a race, as a minority group, and give up hope. The WPC, however, did not choose her to be that test case. Claudette Colvin was born in 1939 in Montgomery, Alabama. She gave birth to a baby boy in December 1955. 
Early Life Colvin was born on September 5, 1939, in Montgomery, Alabama. The leaders considered using her example as justification for a city-wide bus boycott, but something wasn't right she was too young and "emotional" to serve as the rallying figure for what was certain to be a turbulent movement. How Nan Goldin Waged War Against Big Pharma, How the Greensboro Four Began the Sit-In Movement, Biography: You Need to Know: Bayard Rustin, Biography: You Need to Know: Sylvia Rivera, Biography: You Need to Know: Dorothy Pittman Hughes. She later was made to pay a fine. She worked as a nurse's aide, and it was only after she retired that she began to speak more openly about her actions, often speaking at schools about that day in 1955. With the arrest of Parks, Robinson seized the opportunity to protest the bus system's systematic discrimination and pushed the WPC to get to work. This was a time of intense racial divide, and Colvin was a victim of it along with the rest. In 2009 a book about her lifeClaudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, by Phillip Hoosewon the National Book Award for young peoples literature. Her brave action came nine months before Rosa Parks also refused to give up her seat. White people aren't going to bother Rosa; they like her. The Womens Political Council (WPC) was an organization of black women active in anti-segregation activities and politics. Now retired, shes a fan of Alicia Keys and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Later on she was called as one of the plaintiffs in the court case Browder v. Gayle which ultimately determined that the bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama, was unconstitutional. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008); Darlene Clark Hine, et al., Her ride went without incident, until she was asked to move to the back of the bus and give her seat to a white passenger. 
Two police officers dragged Colvin off the bus. But other members thought that Colvin was too immature to represent the struggle for civil rights. Colvin was disappointed that she did not get more recognition for her actions. She was sitting in the middle and was asked to vacate her seat for a white person who was standing. She learned about Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and other important African Americans in history. With the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Civil Rights activists turned their attention to the integration of public schools. WebSeptember 5, 2023. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/claudette-colvin-5406.php. I know in my heart that she was the right person, Colvin said of Parks, who used to make Colvin peanut butter crackers and invite her to sleepovers at her apartment back when they were both living in Montgomery. Watch the people succumb WebClaudette Colvin (born September 5, 1939) is a retired American nurse aide who was a pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); *Be nobodys darling; Improved homework resources designed to support a variety of curriculum subjects and standards. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. She grew up in one of the citys poorest neighborhoods and focused most of her energy on school studying hard and earning mostly As. On March 2, 1955, Claudette Colvin boarded a bus at Bibb and Commerce Streets in Montgomery, an ordinary ritual but one that provided daily humiliations for the city's African American population. She grew up in one of the citys poorest neighborhoods and focused most of her energy on school studying hard and earning mostly As. However, this provision of the local law was usually ignored. She is a retired African American nurse aide and activist who was a pioneer of the1950s civil rights movement. She worked in a nursing home for 35 years before retiring. Claudette Colvin, a nurses aide and Civil Rights Movement activist, was born on September 5, 1939, in Birmingham, Alabama. Problems Playing Video? WebClaudette Colvin was born on September 5, 1939, in Birmingham, Alabama. She had two sisters, Delphine and Velma. Who Is Trans TikTok Influencer Dylan Mulvaney? She grew up in the rural town of Pine Level, Alabama, about 30 miles from Montgomery, on a farm run by her great-aunt and uncle. They put her in handcuffs and took her to jail. It was the worst sound I ever heard. Her ride went without incident, until she was asked to move to the back of the bus and give her seat to a white passenger. Her neighborhood was a very impoverished one where even routine life was a struggle for most. This brave civil rights activist and leader made waves in the U.S. at the time. When she refused, she was physically assaulted and forcibly taken out of the bus. Growing up in one of Montgomery's poorer neighborhoods, Colvin studied hard in school. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. This occurred some nine months before the more widely known incident in whichRosa Parks, secretary of the local chapter of theNAACP, helped spark the 1955Montgomery bus boycott. Claudette Colvin was born on September 5, 1939, in Montgomery, Alabama. Rosa Parks is a national hero, and rightly so, but Colvin was the first black woman to protest bus segregation. In other words, shes human. Early Life Colvin was born on September 5, 1939, in Montgomery, Alabama. Though the segregation-related charges were dropped, the felony assault count stuck. Photograph: AP. On March 2, 1955, she was arrested at the age of 15 in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a crowded, segregated bus. 20072023 Blackpast.org. WebClaudette Colvin (born Claudette Austin; September 5, 1939) is an American pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement and retired nurse aide. When the Montgomery Bus Boycott began in December of 1955, the NAACP and MIA filed a lawsuit on behalf of Colvin, and four other women, including Mary Louise Smith, who had been involved in earlier acts of civil disobedience on the Montgomery buses. She later lived with her family in Montgomery. Colvin. Colvin was also a member of the localNAACPYouth Council, where she formed a close relationship with her overseer:Rosa Parks. However, this incident sparked off a heated debate in the Alabama community about the segregation laws. At that time there was segregated seating arrangements in the busesthe blacks at the back and whites at the front. *Claudette Colvinwas born this date in 1939. These things were fresh in her mind as she took a seat in the middle of the bus. In spite of her impoverished background, she held high aspirations and had mentioned in a school assignment that she wanted to be the president. | But on a fateful day in 1955, Colvin decided to fight for her civil rights. And she knows that the fight isnt over yet. Colvin was one of five plaintiffs in the first federal court case filed by civil rights attorneyFred Grayon February 1, 1956, asBrowder v. Gayle, to challenge bus segregation in the city. Claudette Colvin at age 13, April 20,1953. In 1955 at the age of 15, nine months before Rosa Parks, she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery Bus. But first, we need you to sign in to PBS using one of the services below. Ever since Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus, shes had a criminal record. She told me to let Rosa be the one. In 2019 a statue ofRosa Parkswas unveiled in Montgomery, Alabama, and four granite markers were also unveiled near the statue on the same day to honor four plaintiffs inBrowder v. Gayle, including Colvin. A local civic organization, the Womens Political Council (WPC), had already voiced their concerns to city commissioners about the city bus lines poor treatment of blacks and sought a test case to serve as a catalyst for a large local boycott. However, the voice of the blacks was not given any significance during those days and the boy was arrested, charged for being a serial rapist, and sentenced to death.
