Claudette Colvin
Women’s History Month 2023 we highlight Claudette Colvin (born Claudette Austin; September 5, 1939) is an American pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement and retired nurse aide. 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. This occurred nine months before the more widely known incident in which Rosa Parks, secretary of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), helped spark the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott.
Colvin was one of four plaintiffs in the first federal court case filed by civil rights attorney Fred Gray on February 1, 1956, as Browder v. Gayle, to challenge bus segregation in the city. In a United States district court, she testified before the three-judge panel that heard the case. On June 13, 1956, the judges determined that the state and local laws requiring bus segregation in Alabama were unconstitutional. The case went to the United States Supreme Court on appeal by the state, and it upheld the district court’s ruling on November 13, 1956. One month 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 after a few months. Her brave stand sparked outrage and garnered national attention, leading to a boycott of Montgomery, his boycott that lasted for over a year. Ultimately, the Supreme Court declared segregation on public transportation to be unconstitutional, thanks in part to the lawsuit Browder v. Gayle, which was filed on behalf of Colvin and three other women.
Despite her crucial role in the civil rights movement, Colvin’s story is often overlooked in favor of Parks’. However, her bravery and determination continue to inspire those who fight for justice and equality. Colvin’s legacy serves as a reminder of the power of individual action and the importance of standing up for what is right, even in the face of adversity.
For many years, Montgomery’s black leaders did not publicize Colvin’s pioneering effort. Colvin has said, “Young people think Rosa Parks just sat down on a bus and ended segregation, but that wasn’t the case at all.” Colvin’s case was dropped by civil rights campaigners because Colvin was unmarried and pregnant during the proceedings. It is now widely accepted that Colvin was not accredited by civil rights campaigners at the time due to her circumstances. Rosa Parks stated: “If the white press got ahold of that information, they would have [had] a field day. They’d call her a bad girl, and her case wouldn’t have a chance.”
The record of her arrest and adjudication of delinquency was expunged by the district court in 2021, with the support of the district attorney for the county in which the charges were brought more than 66 years before.
