• News
    • Research News
    • Faculty News
    • Alumni News
    • Student News
    • STEM News
  • Events
    • Spring 2018 Commencement
  • Publications
    • A&M Magazine
  • Media
    • Videos
      • Videos
      • FAMU Taught Me Series
      • Discover FAMU Series
    • Social Media
    • Student Media
    • Experts Guide
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Request Forms
    • Advertising Rate Sheet
  • FAMU.edu
  • Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Youtube
    • Instagram
    • RSS
FAMU Forward
FAMU Forward

Tallahassee, Florida

July 4th, 2022
  • News
    • Research News
      FAMU To Host NOAA-Sponsored Science Conference

      FAMU To Host NOAA-Sponsored Science Conference

      FAMU Professor Awarded National Science Foundation Excellence in Research Grant

      FAMU Professor Awarded National Science Foundation Excellence in Research Grant

      FAMU’s Medical Marijuana Education and Research Initiative Announces Pensacola Community Forum

      FAMU’s Medical Marijuana Education and Research Initiative Announces Pensacola Community Forum

      FAMU College of Pharmacy Prints 3D Cornea Using Human Cells 

      FAMU College of Pharmacy Prints 3D Cornea Using Human Cells 

    • Faculty News
      FAMU Professor Named to Capitol Hill Ocean Week Advisory Committee 

      FAMU Professor Named to Capitol Hill Ocean Week Advisory Committee 

      FAMU CoPPS, IPH Receives $700K Grant to Increase Awareness and Participation of Minorities in COVID-19 Variant Clinical Research Trials

      FAMU CoPPS, IPH Receives $700K Grant to Increase Awareness and Participation of Minorities in COVID-19 Variant Clinical Research Trials

      FAMU Professor Secures $3.5M to Support Wellness of Florida’s First Responders

      FAMU Professor Secures $3.5M to Support Wellness of Florida’s First Responders

      FAMU Researchers Win NSSR Director Awards for STEM Scholars’ Success Article

      FAMU Researchers Win NSSR Director Awards for STEM Scholars’ Success Article

    • Alumni News
       FAMU NAA Convention Raises Over $300K, Honors Distinguished Alumni

       FAMU NAA Convention Raises Over $300K, Honors Distinguished Alumni

      FAMU National Alumni Association Annual Convention To Be Held in Tallahassee June 1-5

      FAMU National Alumni Association Annual Convention To Be Held in Tallahassee June 1-5

      FAMU Plaque Laying Ceremony Honors Rattlers in Arms Giving

      FAMU Plaque Laying Ceremony Honors Rattlers in Arms Giving

      St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, Disney Executive Sybil Crum Announced as FAMU Spring Commencement Speakers

      St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, Disney Executive Sybil Crum Announced as FAMU Spring Commencement Speakers

    • Student News
      Three FAMU Students Earn U.S. State Department Gilman International Scholarships

      Three FAMU Students Earn U.S. State Department Gilman International Scholarships

      <strong>Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer Invites FAMU College of Law Graduates To Stay Around and Shape the Community</strong>

      Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer Invites FAMU College of Law Graduates To Stay Around and Shape the Community

      FAMU Becomes First HBCU to Pilot Google Ad's Shape Co-Lab

      FAMU Becomes First HBCU to Pilot Google Ad's Shape Co-Lab

      FAMU Student’s Sweet Design Lands in Target Stores Nationwide

      FAMU Student’s Sweet Design Lands in Target Stores Nationwide

    • STEM News
      Keysight Technologies Extends Commitment to FAMU-FSU College of Engineering

      Keysight Technologies Extends Commitment to FAMU-FSU College of Engineering

      FAMU-FSU COE Researchers Find New Microwave Technique That Makes Fertilizer More Efficient, Environmentally Friendly

      FAMU-FSU COE Researchers Find New Microwave Technique That Makes Fertilizer More Efficient, Environmentally Friendly

      FAMU Physics Professor Awarded $350,000 National Science Foundation Grant

      FAMU Physics Professor Awarded $350,000 National Science Foundation Grant

      FAMU Chemical Engineering Student Gets Historic Doctorate, Gets Offer From Harvard

      FAMU Chemical Engineering Student Gets Historic Doctorate, Gets Offer From Harvard

  • Events
    • Spring 2018 Commencement
  • Publications
    • A&M Magazine
  • Media
    • Videos
      • Videos
      • FAMU Taught Me Series
      • Discover FAMU Series
    • Social Media
    • Student Media
    • Experts Guide
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Request Forms
    • Advertising Rate Sheet
  • FAMU.edu
  • Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Youtube
    • Instagram
    • RSS
Home
Features
Community Feature

Anniversary of Tallahassee Bus Boycott Celebrated

June 8th, 2016 FAMU News Community Feature
Anniversary of Tallahassee Bus Boycott Celebrated

Members of the University and local community paid tribute to the pioneers of the Tallahassee Bus Boycott on its 60th anniversary during the Charles U. Smith, Ph.D. Panel Discussions at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) on May 26.

The program, which took place in the University’s Grand Ballroom, was sponsored by the City of Tallahassee and Star Metro.

The Tallahassee Bus Boycott began in 1956 after FAMU students Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson, sat in City bus seats normally occupied by white passengers. When asked to move by the driver they refused, referencing the standing room only conditions in the back of the bus and their fatigue. After the bus driver denied their request to receive a bus fare refund, they were arrested and charged with insinuating a riot.

Shauna Smith, daughter of Charles U. Smith, Ph.D., and a recently retired professor from Tallahassee Community College said the program helped recognize one of the most important civil rights events in Tallahassee. She also recognized the tireless efforts of the unsung heroes of the boycott.

“Today, we want to also recognize all of the foot soldiers who may have gone unnamed, who may not have had a title,  but were still out there providing homes, providing safe havens,” Smith said.

Panelists during the discussion included Eddie Barrington, a 1956 Inter-Civic Council (ICC) Charter member and boycott foot solider and Rev. Henry Marion Steele, son of Rev. C. K. Steele, the first vice president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

While speaking to the crowd gathered at the event, Tallahassee Mayor and FAMU alumnus Andrew Gillum reminded everyone of the progress Tallahassee has made over the years, saying that a city that once had segregated buses and segregated ordinances on the books was able to change as a result of the activity that took place with the boycott.

“I now get to call myself mayor of this very same city. We do this in remembrance, and also to remind us of the charge that we still have to keep as a community. The charge that we still have to keep in our individual lives, in our professional lives and in our faith led lives to make sure that we don’t leave the challenges that we have today for another generation to deal with,” Gillum said.

Gillum made special reference during his comments to FAMU alumnus Col. (Ret.) Brodes Hartley, the former SGA President who spearheaded the boycott. Soon after learning of the arrests of Jakes and Patterson, Hartley convened a group of 2,000 students in Lee Hall Auditorium on campus. During the meeting the students voted to take action against the City’s Bus Lines.

“He was one of the first former SGA Presidents I met when I was the SGA President of Florida A&M University,” Gillum said. The tradition of Florida A&M University and its students is that we always strike from the top. No matter what the challenges are at the time, we rise to that occasion and do the very best that we can in dealing with it,” he added.

The discussion was one of several events planned throughout the day, which also included a symbolic march from the Grand Ballroom to FAMU Way where another event with food, entertainment and an unveiling of a Star Metro Bus in tribute to the boycott took place.

David Jackson, Ph.D., Associate Provost of Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate College  at FAMU said the boycott was among the first examples of significant student activism within the Civil Rights Movement in America, citing that the event took place nearly three years before four students at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro, N.C. began sit-ins at Woolworths.

“We should remember the names Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson because when they sat beside a white woman in front of that bus on May 26, 1956 and refused to move to the back, it set in motion what would become the Tallahassee Bus Boycott,” Jackson said. “FAMU students were on the cutting edge of this kind of student activism and have continued to lead.”

 

 

 

 

Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest
Previous article FAMU's Great Legacy Continues
Next article Rattler Spirit Prevails at NAA Convention
Related Posts
Florida HBCU Presidents Tout Their Relevance and Pledge to Work Together for Their Continued Survival and Success

Florida HBCU Presidents Tout Their Relevance and Pledge to Work Together for Their Continued Survival and Success

August 16th, 2019
Florida A&M University to Host South Florida Medical Marijuana Community Forums

Florida A&M University to Host South Florida Medical Marijuana Community Forums

August 16th, 2019
FAMU Signs Partnership with the University of Haifa During Gov. DeSantis’ Mission to Israel

FAMU Signs Partnership with the University of Haifa During Gov. DeSantis’ Mission to Israel

May 29th, 2019
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by the FAMU Office of Communications.


Timeline
Jun 30th 5:48 PM
News

FAMU Improves on 8 Performance Based Funding Metrics

Jun 30th 4:04 PM
News

FAMU Names Mary Simmons SOAHS Interim Dean

Jun 29th 4:48 PM
News

FAMU Names Andrew Chin Interim SA+ET Dean

Jun 29th 12:06 PM
News

FAMU President Robinson: Diversity Will Positively Impact the Future Broadcast Industry

Jun 24th 3:40 AM
News

FAMU Marching ‘100’ Band Makes Triumphant Paris Return at Louis Vuitton Fashion Show

Follow Us!
Tweets by @FAMU_1887
RSS FAMU Sports News
  • Patrick Jean-Pierre Qualified for 101st Georgia Amateur Championship
  • Enshrinement Day: Nate Newton to be Enshrined into Black College Football Hall of Fame
  • Milton Patterson One of Six Chicago Bears 2022 Bill Walsh Diversity Coaches
  • SWAC Volleyball Champions Add Three Transfers for 2022
  • Isaiah Land, Jah'Marae Sheread Named to Athlon Sports FCS Preseason All-American Team
A&M Magazine Digital Stories
FAMU Videos

President's Report: June 2022

💉 #CallTheShots with FAMU's Basketball Team 🏀

Upcoming Events
Jul
8
Fri
all-day IRENE C. EDMONDS YOUTH THEATRE P... @ Charles Winter Wood Theatre-Edmonds Stage
IRENE C. EDMONDS YOUTH THEATRE P... @ Charles Winter Wood Theatre-Edmonds Stage
Jul 8 – Jul 9 all-day
IRENE C. EDMONDS YOUTH THEATRE PRODUCTION @ Charles Winter Wood Theatre-Edmonds Stage
IRENE C. EDMONDS YOUTH THEATRE PRODUCTION   July 8 – 9, 2022 Charles Winter Wood Theatre | Edmonds Stage Share a delightful evening applauding the achievements of a group of talented young performers, culminating a[...]
View Calendar
Add
  • Add to Timely Calendar
  • Add to Google
  • Add to Outlook
  • Add to Apple Calendar
  • Add to other calendar
  • Export to XML
Calendar
June 2016
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  
« May   Jul »
Archives
Subscribe to Our Newsletter!

Enter your email address to subscribe to our news site and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Follow Us!
Got a Story?

We love hearing from our alumni.  Let us know what you’ve been up to since you left the hill! Contact us here today!

© Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University 2019. All rights reserved.
Powered by the FAMU Office of Communications