He and a dozen fellow civil rights activists were brutally beaten for fighting segregation at bus terminals throughout the South, a movement that forever changed how Americans traveled between states.
Charles Person, the youngest of the 13 original Freedom Riders who rode from Washington, D.C., to Birmingham, Alabama, in 1961 to help integrate bus stations in the South, passed away on Wednesday at his home in Fayetteville, Georgia.
He was 82 years old.
His daughter, Keisha Person, stated that the cause was leukemia.
At just 18 years old and a freshman at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Person became involved in the civil rights movement, joining thousands of students across the South who were marching against Jim Crow laws and participating in sit-ins at segregated lunch counters.
His first arrest occurred during a sit-in at an Atlanta restaurant in February 1961. After returning to campus, he noticed an advertisement from the Congress of Racial Equality seeking volunteers for a commercial bus trip from Washington to New Orleans. The ad mentioned that they would be testing a recent Supreme Court decision that prohibited segregation in bus terminals serving interstate travelers.
Due to his age, he needed his father’s permission to apply. His mother was firmly against it, but once he received the green light, he was accepted into the program. After undergoing training in peaceful protest methods, he and a group of twelve – six other Black riders, including the future congressman John Lewis and six white riders – departed from the Greyhound station in Washington on two buses.
Person was teamed up with an older white companion, James Peck. Their mission involved entering the terminals where Person would attempt to utilize the white restroom while Peck would use the Black restroom. Following that, they would place orders at the respective white and Black lunch counters.
Their initial challenge took place in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and was relatively uneventful, aside from some disapproving glances from white patrons at the depot. However, in Charlotte, North Carolina, Person faced the threat of arrest when he attempted to get his shoes polished in the designated white area of the terminal.
Tensions escalated in Atlanta, the final significant stop before crossing into Alabama. A group of white men boarded the bus and took seats among Black passengers, who, defying the norms of the Jim Crow South, were scattered throughout the bus rather than confined to the rear.
The next stop was Anniston, a small town in eastern Alabama. The bus station was closed, but the driver stopped anyway. He mentioned that another bus had been firebombed nearby and if the Black passengers wanted to continue, they would have to move to the back of the bus.
When they said no, the bus driver exited the bus and the white men who had gotten on the bus in Atlanta – they were members of the Ku Klux Klan – then brutally attacked the passengers. Both Person and Peck were knocked unconscious before being pulled to the back of the bus.
“They threw us to the back of the bus,” Person said in a 2021 interview on the podcast Book Dreams, reported by The New York Times. “One eyewitness said they stacked us like pancakes.”
Once the racial order was back in place, the bus continued on to Birmingham. It was Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 14th. A mob of whites, including countless members of the Klan, were there to confront the passengers.
As they got off the bus and picked up their bags, Person and Peck were meant to lead the way into the terminal, but upon seeing the bloodstains on Person’s face and shirt, Peck hesitated. Yet, with determination, Person urged him, “Let’s go.”
Initially, the onlookers in the station believed that Person had attacked Peck. When Peck clarified that they were actually friends, several men dragged him into a corridor and began beating him with a pipe. Someone also grabbed Person, but he managed to break free after a few minutes.
By that point, chaos had erupted in the station, with Klansmen recklessly targeting and attacking passengers. Person was able to catch a city bus and made his way to the residence of Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, a prominent leader in the local civil rights movement.
In the next few hours, more Freedom Riders, including Peck, arrived at Shuttlesworth’s home. Many doctors were reluctant to provide them with medical treatment due to fears about potential backlash, but eventually, they all managed to get the care they needed.
The Riders encountered difficulties in locating another bus that would take them to New Orleans, and they opted to catch a flight instead. After several days filled with meetings, speeches and planning, Person returned to Atlanta.
The first Freedom Ride had ended, but more were starting up. Around 400 people joined the campaign and many faced violence and jail time. However, their efforts and tenacity paid off: on May 29, President John F. Kennedy’s administration ordered that all bus stations for interstate travel be integrated.
Charles Anthony Person was born on September 27, 1942, in Atlanta. His father, Hugh, worked as a hospital orderly and his mother, Ruby (Booker) Person, was a domestic worker.
Charles was outstanding in math and science and gained admission to M.I.T. Unfortunately, without a scholarship, it was financially impossible for him to attend. He also sought admission to Georgia Tech, but was rejected due to his race. Ultimately, he chose to enroll at Morehouse College, intending to pursue a career as a nuclear engineer.
Upon his return from the Freedom Rides, Person expressed to his mother his desire to remain active in the civil rights movement. She encouraged him to consider a different path by joining the Army, which out of concern for her son’s safety and future, seemed to be a more secure choice at that time.
He opted to enlist in the Marines instead, and dedicated two years of his service to Vietnam, but spent the majority of his military career as an electronics specialist at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. He retired in 1981.
His first marriage to Carolyn Edith Henderson ended in divorce. He married Jo Etta Mapp in 1986. She and their daughter, Keisha, survive him, along with their son, Brandon Swain. He is also survived by three children from his first marriage: Cicely Person, Cammie Person, and Carmelle Searcy; his siblings, Joyce Clark, Susan Person, and Michael Person; and two grandchildren.
Upon returning to Atlanta, Person launched his own electronics business and subsequently took a position in technical support for the public schools in the area. He remained actively engaged in civil rights activism and in 2022, co-authored Buses Are a Comin’: Memoirs of a Freedom Rider with Richard Rooker.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, a Morehouse alumnus, called Person a “giant in the civil rights movement.”
“His legacy will always be defined by his immeasurable courage,” Woodfin said in a statement.
“He stood firm so that we may be able to experience the joys of freedom. Rest well.”
