About Us
Honoring the Past and Embracing the Future
May 26, 2021 will mark the 65th Anniversary of two female students from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson, sitting down in the “whites only” section of a segregated bus in the city of Tallahassee. When they refused to move to the “colored” section at the rear of the bus, the driver pulled into a service station and called the police. Tallahassee police arrested Jakes and Patterson and charged them with “placing themselves in a position to incite a riot.”
In the days immediately following their arrests, students at FAMU organized a campus-wide boycott of city buses. Their collective stand against segregation set an example that propelled like-minded Tallahassee citizens into action.
Through courageous nonviolent protest, boycotters in Tallahassee achieved an important victory in the struggle for civil rights. The case of Tallahassee proved that a commitment to nonviolence could achieve significant results towards equality.
Tallahassee Bus Boycott
The planning committee for the 65th Anniversary Observance of the Tallahassee Bus Boycott and the Dr. Charles U. Smith Panel Discussions, see below, cordially invites you to join in the activities planned for the annual observance of the Tallahassee Bus Boycott.
Programming of the 65th Anniversary Observance of the Tallahassee Bus Boycott will begin airing on May 26, 2021.
The program also features a viewing of documentaries (1) Footsteps to Freedom which chronicles the creation of the Tallahassee-Leon County Civil Rights Heritage Walk, honoring civil rights activists who made a difference in the Tallahassee area, and (2) The Tallahassee Bus Boycott: Lessons for Our Time, which illuminates oral interviews produced and narrated by Professor Paul Ortiz and staff from the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida.
The 65th Anniversary Observance virtual program is available on FAMU's YouTube Channel: FAMUTube1887 or the following link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2UTkvV8qfZjDhCTqO1_-DjMsHGljlGHj and the City of Tallahassee’s television channel, WCOT (channel 13 on Comcast and CenturyLink) and on Talgov.com/wcot). Please enjoy!
Media Contacts: Keith A. Miles (Keith.miles@famu.edu; 850- 599-3413 or 850-561-2810) or Keith D. Parker, (kdparker@neec-inc.org; 706-614-8593).
Video Production and Promotion Sponsored in part by WCTV-TV. A very special ‘thank you’ to Heather Peeples and Sabrina Fuller of WCTV-TV.