Charles Person

WARSAW — He is one of three people alive today who participated in the May 1, 1961, Freedom Ride from Washington, D.C., to New Orleans. He was also among those arrested three years earlier at the lunch counter sit-in.

Charles Person, Atlanta, Ga., will be coming to Warsaw as the guest speaker for the 28th Annual Martin Luther King Jr., Celebration Jan. 18. He will also speak to students at Warsaw Community Schools. The Committee To Commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Inc., is organizing the visit and the MLK Celebration.

All ages are invited to the celebration will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., with the doors opening at 11 a.m. A free lunch will be provided, however, donations will be accepted to cover costs. The event will be held in the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center, on the campus of Grace College.

It all began in 1944 when Irene Morgan in Virginia wanted to ride the interstate bus and sat in the front of the bus, instead of the back. She was arrested and sued the government. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1946, in Morgan vs. Virginia, an individual could sit wherever he wanted.

A group of 18 citizens with the Congress of Racial Equality wanted to see if the high court’s ruling was being followed. The Journey of Reconciliation took place in 1947. It traveled through Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky, with little violence and only one arrest. The group knew not to go into the southern states where opposition was strong.

Charles Person at 18, the youngest member of the Freedom Rideres

The segregation continued, as interpretation was it only pertained to the bus, not other places. Bruce Boynton protested the segregation and in 1960 the matter was again before the court. In Boynton vs. Virginia the ruling was it meant everything – waiting rooms, restaurants, restrooms, etc.

On May 4, 1961, a group of 13 from C.O.R.E. launched the Freedom Rides. Person was one of the youngest participants, 18 years old. The group was comprised of African-American and white civil rights activist. Two buses would travel through the south to protest segregation in interstate bus terminals The plan was to leave Washington D.C. and arrive in New Orleans on May 17.

In Atlanta, the group met with King and invited him to ride along. Adamantly refusing, he warned the group once crossing into Alabama the group would be killed. While no one was killed on that journey, many were severely injured as mobs met the buses.

One bus was fire bombed in Anniston, Ala. In Birmingham, the riders were severely beaten. The rides continued with police and federal escorts. In Jackson, Miss., the riders were sent to Parchman, a maximum-security penitentiary. During their 30-day sentence the Freedom Riders would sing “The buses are a ‘common, Oh Yea,” driving the guards crazy. They were hosed down, exposed to the Mississippi mosquitoes and had their mattresses removed, but the singing continued. The buses arrived.

Publicity brought hundreds, of all races, from around the country to join the Freedom Ride. Because of their great price and great risk the signs came down.

Person went on to serve in the U.S. Marines and was among the firs sent to Vietnam in 1965.

The public is invited to attend the event. Donations are being accepted to offset costs for lunch. Donation can be mailed to CCMLK, 202 E. Center St., Warsaw, IN 46580.

Members of the Committee to Commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., are shown above. In front is Dick Rooker. In the second row, from left, are Allyn Decker, Rachael Hoffert and Chris Bonifield. In the third row are Gennie Brissette-Tipton and Wendy Long. In Back are Edna Bruner, Dr. Bill Datip and Dr. David Hoffert. (Photo by Deb Patterson)