Journey of Reconciliation 1947: First Freedom Ride Tests Bus Desegregation

From April 9-23, 1947, CORE sends 16 Black and white men on buses through Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky to test compliance with Morgan v. Virginia. The riders face arrests, mob threats, and police harassment. In Chapel Hill, NC, Bayard Rustin and others are arrested; Rustin serves 22 days on a North Carolina chain gang. The Journey of Reconciliation is the template for the 1961 Freedom Rides. Its conclusions: bus companies still enforce segregation; the federal government does not enforce the court's ruling.