Montgomery Bus Boycott

Martin Luther King, Jr., made history, but he was also transformed by his deep family roots in the African-American Baptist church, his formative experiences in his hometown of Atlanta, his theological studies, his varied models of religious and political leadership, and his extensive network of contacts in the peace and social justice movements of his time. Although King was only 39 at the time of his death, his life was remarkable for the ways it reflected and inspired so many of the twentieth century’s major intellectual, cultural, and political developments.

In the morning, King watches empty buses pass by his home, indicating a successful first day of the boycott. 

King flies to Atlanta, where a group of family friends convened by his father fails to dissuade him from returning to Montgomery. 

City attorneys move to dismiss the suit that Gray and Langford have taken to federal district court.

In Montgomery, Judge Carter upholds the conviction of Parks by the recorder’s court. 

At Dexter’s Sunday service, King reveals to the congregation his vision of one year earlier in which a divine voice told him to lead the bus struggle without fear.

King speaks on “The Montgomery, Alabama Story” at the Walnut Hills High School Auditorium on behalf of the Jewish Community Center Forum in Cincinnati.

At the Town and Country Club of Brooklyn, New York, King addresses the Guardians Association of the New York City Police Department. On behalf of the Guardians, Governor Averell Harriman presents King with an Annual Achievement Award.

Lloyd’s of London’s liability insurance for Christian churches of Montgomery, at $11,000 per car, becomes effective.

The MIA holds simultaneous mass meetings at Mt. Zion and St. John AME Churches.