The next few images and the text with each are from the six-minute video on YouTube.
The link to the 2010 video is at the end of this series of images describing the contents.
Can a bus tell a story? I mean, for most people, a bus is a bus, is a bus, right...
It just gets us from one place to another. What does that have to do with history?
Other people like to think of a bus as an interesting machine, an invention.
How many horsepower does the engine have? Where is the engine placed?
How many seats does it have?
Bus historians...they like to think of public transportation like a stage in a theater.
A stage...where history...that shows...what happened in our daily lives in the past.
What goes on in public transportation reflects what's happening in the rest of society.
Whether it's changes in technology or relationships between different groups of people.
The United States used to be a very racially segregated society. See the drinking
fountains. They were labeled to keep whites and African American people apart
from one another. The laws that required this were called the Jim Crow Laws.
In segregated public transportation, whites sat in the front, and people of color sat in the rear,
or in a separate car altogether. As this cartoon shows, when transportation was
segregated, the quality of the vehicles, not equal.
Segregated seating on public transportation had started in the 1800s on railroads
and electric streetcars. This photo shows an electric streetcar in the collection of
the Seashore Trolley Museum. It is car No. 434, from Dallas, Texas, that operated
under Jim Crow Laws. You can see the front and back of the wooden sign. It
separated one section (of seating) in the car from another.
When buses were invented, they carried on this form of racial discrimination from
the earlier railroad and electric streetcars. Most people have heard of segregated
seating on buses because it led to so many famous Civil Rights protests.
For example, you've probably heard of Rosa Parks. She was the librarian who
refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama,
bus and was arrested. You might not have heard of Claudette Colvin, who,
several months earlier than Rosa Parks, and that not only 15 years old,
stood up for her rights in the same way. She also refused to give up her
seat and was arrested.
The Montgomery bus boycott and other protests followed. Even after 1960,
when the Supreme Court ruled that it was against the law to discriminate on
public transportation, Civil Rights activists knew that many people would not
respect the law. To show you this, they organized "Freedom Rides." On
Freedom Rides as African Americans and white Civil Rights activists,
side-by-side on a bus and rode from one state to another. The first one
left Washington, D.C., in 1961. In Alabama, the Freedom Ride passengers suffered
a violent attack. That shocked people across the country.
Not long after, a significant change occurred, which brings us to bus No. 6481.
At Seashore Trolley Museum, this is a D.C. Transit Bus, a bus that was
operating in the nation's capital during 1964.
1964 was a special year because President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the
Civil Rights Act. Behind him stands Martin Luther King, Jr., and, in the same
year, King gave his "I Have A Dream" speech at the National Mall.
This is when bus No. 6481 was being driven around in Washington, D.C.
How did bus No. 6481 become a mobile bus exhibit? The answer goes back
to Claudette Colvin and involves a Maine author named Philllip Hoose.
Feeling that her story needed to be told, Hoose wrote the book, "Claudette Colvin,
Twice Towards Justice." Phillip Hoose invited Colvin to travel to Maine and
visit King Middle School (Portland).
Preparing for Claudette's visit, students from King Middle School and
Maine College for the Arts used the back side of the bus advertisements
to paint scenes that were inspired by Claudette's story. These artworks were
installed inside a Portland Metro bus, which Claudette rode in and toured
while visiting Maine.
Bus No. 6481, at the Seashore Trolley Museum, offered a longer life for the
students' art. A plan that could remain for many people to enjoy. After
reproducing the student artwork, the Trolley Museum started to convert
the bus into a mobile exhibit.
King Middle School students were asked whether or not the Museum should
exhibit the Jim Crow signs they own... One student wrote, "If the Museum kept
the signs in storage, it wouldn't be telling the whole story. The signs are an
important part of history that should not be concealed from the public."
The recording of the video was made in 2010 while bus No. 6481's interior was having the Civil Rights
materials added. At the time, Bus 6481 was a registered, operating bus. Sadly, it had some engine issues that removed it from being operable. The Museum is fundraising for the bus to have work done, so it can be operable again. In the meantime, Bus 6481 is on display for the public to access to visit its interior Civil Rights exhibit during the Museum's operating season, May-October.
Click Here: to see Donation Options to Help Civil Rights Bus 6481
If you would like the "A Seat For Everyone" mobile bus exhibit to visit your
school or organization, please contact us.
Click on the site below to watch/hear the video recording done in 2010 of Annika (student at King Middle School) telling the story written by Patricia Erikson, with her mother.
Click Here: to watch/hear the YouTube video
Greater Portland Metro promotional Ad
Below is a newspaper article about Claudette Colvin visiting Maine in February 2009.
Portland Press Herald - February 15, 2009
Portland Press Herald - February 15, 2009
Lesson Plans
Patricia Erikson's daughter, Annika, was a student at King Middle School when Claudette Colven and Phillip Hoose visited. Patricia was contracted at the Seashore Trolley Museum to work on creating historical exhibits and educational projects at the Museum. Patricia used the State of Maine Education guidelines to create some lesson plans for grades 3-5 (with an option for grades 6-8).
"A Seat for Everyone: Public Transportation Weaving the Fabric of Society"
Lesson 2: A Seat for Everyone: Public Transportation Weaving the Fabric of Society
Recommended Teacher Resources (please see www.trolleymuseum.org for a less static list of resources)
* Rosa Parks, How I Fought for Civil Rights Teacher.scholastic.com/rosa
* Bus Boycotts: Historical Documents Highlight Integration Milestones
* Freedom's Main Line
Teach about the 19th-century African Americans in Kentucky who used civil disobedience to protest
segregation on public transportation nearly a century before the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
* "History in Motion" Maine Memory Network online exhibit
Instructional Materials (please see www.trolleymuseum.org for a less static list of resources)
* Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks (video)
The innovative and authoritative history of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott infuses the familiar story of the boycott with the first-person accounts, stirring dramatizations, and narration by young people. This teaching kit includes the video and classroom activities.
* Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice (online video, highly recommended)
This is a trailer for the award-winning book featuring Phillip Hoose and Claudette Colvin. On March 2, 1955, Claudette Colvin refused to surrender her seat on the bus in Montgomery, but she was shunned, not celebrated, by the community. Months later, Rosa Parks made the same bold statement, which led to the desegregation of the Montgomery buses a year later.
* One or more of the following:
* Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice
Phillip Hoose (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009) Grades 7-12
Based on extensive interviews with Claudette Colvin and many others, Phillip Hoose presents the first in-depth account of an important yet largely unknown civil rights figure, skillfully weaving her dramatic story into the fabric of the historic Montgomery bus boycott and court case that would change the course of American history.
* A Picture Book of Rosa Parks
David A. Adler (Scholastic, 1995)
* Rosa
Nikki Giovanni (Henry Holt and Co., 2007) Grades 3-5
Gives context to Rosa Parks' role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Children will learn about the Parks' family life. They will experience the day Parks refused to give up her seat and see how the black community responded and rallied. By mentioning Emmitt Till and others, Giovanni contextualizes Parks' place in the Civil Rights Movement.
* The Bus Ride That Changed History: The Story of Rosa Parks
Pamela Duncan Edwards (Houghton Mifflin Co., 2005) Grade 2-4
Tells the story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The book includes the boycott story along with a parallel story, below it, of children discussing its impact. These children ask and respond in much the same way your students might respond.
* Student Reading (provided) "A Seat for Everyone." NOTE: This reading has been prepared for distribution to students on either school laptops or on printed paper.
Procedure
1. Teacher reviews Recommended Teacher Resources and Instructional Materials
2. Assign or read to the class one of the recommended books.
3. Project YouTube video of Claudette Colvin on a screen for your class; encourage listening skills and critical thinking along these suggested lines:
* Who did Claudette Colvin say inspired her to stay seated in her bus seat?
* Why are those people who inspired her important in history? What did they do?
* What is Claudette's advice about what we should do in the face of an injustice?
4. Assign the Student Reading "A Seat for Everyone" and have them fill out the questions in class or as homework (recommended for 3-5 grades); for 6th to 8th grades, an alternative is to use the "A Seat for Everyone" interactive reading in Keynote format that is provided at www.trolleymuseum.org
5. (Optional) Have students pretend that they work at Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine, and they must decide whether or not to place on display in the Museum a segregated seating sign (a.k.a. a Jim Crow sign). Should the Museum expose visitors to a difficult chapter in history or keep the signs hidden away in storage? Have them explain why they made the decision they did.
Prompts for getting them started on writing their own interpretive label for placing a Jim Crow sign (discussed and pictured in reading) in a gallery for Museum visitors to see:
a. What is the most important thing you would want a visitor to remember after they walk away?
b. How can you make that most important point memorable? (e.g., by encouraging them to look at something in particular, or to imagine themselves in a particular role)
c. What are some key words that you want to be sure to use (word bank exercise)?
Then have them draft a label of 150 words or less...
Reading
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Click Here: to see Donation Options to Help Civil Rights Bus 6481
Click Here: For the list of links to Theodore Roosevelt Maine Heritage Trail Posts in Easy Order to View
Click Here: For the post with the numerous Novelty Notes Connecting Theodore Roosevelt, Maine, and the "Elegant Ride," Narcissus
We continue the restoration work on the 1912 Narcissus, the only surviving high-speed, luxury interurban coach of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban.
Click Here: Narcissus Restoration-Related Posts
Being more than a century old, the stately, "Elegant Ride," Narcissus, is a gem. This shimmering precious stone of Maine transportation history is brilliantly resplendent as it emanates so many elements of history, including time, places, people, and events, that it was coupled to, that when just a smattering of its seemingly innumerable stories are shared, the contents first captivates, fascinates, then generates interest to learn more 🙋. The majestic Narcissus is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Please consider joining the epic journey to complete the Narcissus Project by making a donation today!
Click Here: Donation Options for Helping the Narcissus
The restoration of this majestic icon of Maine's electric railway history is but one in a series of captivating stories containing an abundance of incredible coalition of narratives.
Click Here: History-Related Posts - Narcissus and Portland-Lewiston Interurban
The Narcissus is featured in the national Gold Award-winning novel, Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride. The "Elegant Ride" is the Narcissus. Theodore Roosevelt was a passenger on the Narcissus on August 18, 1914, between Lewiston and Portland, Maine, while campaigning for the Progressive Party candidates.
Click Here: Bookstores and Businesses promoting the Narcissus Project
Click Here: for 3rd Grade Lesson Plans - Example for Viewing the Vocabulary Activities for Grades 3-8
Independent book publisher Phil Morse,
holding the Gold Book Award Winner plaque
for the Middle Reader category for the Eric
Hoffer Book Award. Congratulations to
award-winning Maine author, Jean M. Flahive 😊
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