Sixty years ago on December 1, 1955, during a typical evening rush hour in Montgomery, Alabama, a 42 year-old woman took a seat near the front of the bus on her way home from the Montgomery Fair department store where she worked as a seamstress. Refusing to yield her seat to a white passenger when instructed by the bus driver, police were called and she was arrested.
The police report shows that Rosa Parks was charged with “refusing to obey orders of bus driver.” According to the report, she was taken to the police station, where she was booked, fingerprinted, and briefly incarcerated.
The event touched off a 381-day boycott of the Montgomery, Alabama, bus system in which a 26-year-old unknown minister, Martin Luther King, Jr., emerged as the leader.
Scope & Content note: This case file contains documents resulting from a Federal court suit that challenged segregation within Montgomery, Alabama’s public transportation system. The case is renowned for its relation to the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, a pivotal event in the Civil Rights Movement. Although not a party to the case, Rosa Parks’ arrest record and fingerprints are exhibits to the case. The plaintiffs in this case were Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, Claudette Colvin, and Mary Louise Smith, all of whom had been either arrested for refusing to give up their seats to white passengers or harmed by being forced to comply with segregation codes. In this case, the three – judge panel ruled Montgomery segregation codes unconstitutional due to their violation of the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court later affirmed the District Court’s judgment.
Sixty years ago on December 1, 1955, during a typical evening rush hour in Montgomery, Alabama, a 42 year-old woman took a seat near the front of the bus on her way home from the Montgomery Fair department store where she worked as a seamstress. Refusing to yield her seat to a white passenger when instructed by the bus driver, police were called and she was arrested.
The police report shows that Rosa Parks was charged with “refusing to obey orders of bus driver.” According to the report, she was taken to the police station, where she was booked, fingerprinted, and briefly incarcerated.
The event touched off a 381-day boycott of the Montgomery, Alabama, bus system in which a 26-year-old unknown minister, Martin Luther King, Jr., emerged as the leader.
Scope & Content note: This case file contains documents resulting from a Federal court suit that challenged segregation within Montgomery, Alabama’s public transportation system. The case is renowned for its relation to the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, a pivotal event in the Civil Rights Movement. Although not a party to the case, Rosa Parks’ arrest record and fingerprints are exhibits to the case. The plaintiffs in this case were Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, Claudette Colvin, and Mary Louise Smith, all of whom had been either arrested for refusing to give up their seats to white passengers or harmed by being forced to comply with segregation codes. In this case, the three – judge panel ruled Montgomery segregation codes unconstitutional due to their violation of the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court later affirmed the District Court’s judgment.
One day while browsing the rare book stacks (I can do that, I work in Special Collections!) I stopped to look at a book with a very sad binding bearing the title Croke’s Reports, Elizabeth. The book was obviously old, and the boards had been poorly reattached at some point with masking tape. I turned to the title page to see just how old it was and found it was published in 1669 under the title The first part (though last publish’t) of the reports of Sr George Croke, Knight: late, one of the justices of the Court of King’s-Bench, and formerly, one of the justices of the Court of Common-Bench; of such select cases as were adjudged in the said courts, during the whole reign of the late King James. But what really caught my eye was the name written in the top corner of the title page, pictured above. The publication history of this book is interesting, too, but a story for another day.
With the help of Tim at the wonderful Bentham Project at University College, London, I hope to verify if this book really did belong to the renowned philosopher, jurist, and social reformer Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) when he studied law at Lincoln’s Inn, ca. 1763. We’ll keep you posted with any updates.
One day while browsing the rare book stacks (I can do that, I work in Special Collections!) I stopped to look at a book with a very sad binding bearing the title Croke’s Reports, Elizabeth. The book was obviously old, and the boards had been poorly reattached at some point with masking tape. I turned to the title page to see just how old it was and found it was published in 1669 under the title The first part (though last publish’t) of the reports of Sr George Croke, Knight: late, one of the justices of the Court of King’s-Bench, and formerly, one of the justices of the Court of Common-Bench; of such select cases as were adjudged in the said courts, during the whole reign of the late King James. But what really caught my eye was the name written in the top corner of the title page, pictured above. The publication history of this book is interesting, too, but a story for another day.
With the help of Tim at the wonderful Bentham Project at University College, London, I hope to verify if this book really did belong to the renowned philosopher, jurist, and social reformer Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) when he studied law at Lincoln’s Inn, ca. 1763. We’ll keep you posted with any updates.
Artist Antoine Geiger’s series has digitally altered random people sucked into the screens of their phones. It is placing the screen as an object of “mass subculture”, alienating the relation to our own body, and more generally to the physical world.
Artist Antoine Geiger’s series has digitally altered random people sucked into the screens of their phones. It is placing the screen as an object of “mass subculture”, alienating the relation to our own body, and more generally to the physical world.
The Dance of Two Cultures: A performance honoring California’s Punjabi and Mexican communities, mixing Bhangra and Mexican folklórico.
“This show combines Indian form of dance, Mexican form of dance. We are not doing it for the sake of fusion, but our own collaboration is a telling of this story.”
The Dance of Two Cultures: A performance honoring California’s Punjabi and Mexican communities, mixing Bhangra and Mexican folklórico.
“This show combines Indian form of dance, Mexican form of dance. We are not doing it for the sake of fusion, but our own collaboration is a telling of this story.”
The SleepCoat League Presents: