ACTION 8 UPDATE: Funeral arrangements announced for civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin
FILE – Claudette Colvin talks about segregation laws in the 1950’s while having her photo taken Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
ACTION 8 UPDATE: Funeral arrangements have been announced for civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin, who played an important role in the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Civil Rights Movement.
Viewing will take place Friday, January 23, from 1-7PM at Bushelon Funeral Home, 800 14th St. SW in Birmingham.
The funeral will be Saturday, January 24, at 11AM at Greater Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, 2135 Jefferson Ave. SW in Birmingham. Rev. Dr. Michael Wesley will be presiding with Rev. Arthur Lane of Corpus Christi, Texas, delivering the eulogy.
As Action 8 News has reported, Colvin’s death was announced yesterday. She was 86 years old.
At age 15, Colvin was arrested on March 2, 1955, in Montgomery for violating bus segregation ordinances, nine months before Rosa Parks. Colvin was made a ward of the State and placed on indefinite probation.
She was one of four black female plaintiffs, along with Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald and Mary Louise Smith, who filed a lawsuit challenging segregated bus seating in Montgomery. Their attorney was Fred Gray, who maintains a law office to this day.
Their case was successful, impacting public transportation on trains, airplanes and taxis throughout the U.S.
Colvin later moved away from Montgomery and was a longtime resident of New York City. She returned to Montgomery for a visit in 2021 when her criminal record was expunged.
