General Information

The Freedom Riders Foundation is proud to present the largest ever reunion of the Freedom Riders, to be held this Veteran's Day Weekend, November 8th-11th, 2001 in Jackson, Mississippi. The public is invited to attend this historic event and help honor these early pioneers of the Civil Rights Movement whose heroic actions helped bring an end to the decades old laws of segregation in the South.

Seven months after the first Freedom Rides began on May 4, 1961, Attorney General Robert Kennedy directed the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to order the complete desegregation of all interstate transit facilities across the country. The order was put into effect November 1, 1961.

The Reunion - November 8th thru November 11, 2001

Everyone is invited on board. Mayor Harvey Johnson of Jackson and the Jackson City Council have promised the Freedom Riders “a much warmer welcome this time than the last timethey were in Jackson,” the last time being in 1961 when 350 of the more than 400 Freedom Riders were arrested on “breach of peace” charges at various transit terminals throughout the State Capitol.

Reunion Schedule (tentative)

Nationwide Search

A nationwide search is currently underway to help locate the missing Freedom Riders and bring them to Jackson. To date, nearly 420 of the 1961 Freedom Riders have been identified and nearly 100 have been located.

Freedom Riders Roll Call (found and unfound)

Reunion Event Admission Prices For the Public*

Art Exhibit Premiere -“Freedom Riders Anthology”,$5.00
Saturday Keynote Speakers and Workshops Sessions,$10.00
Saturday Night Hootenanny $20.00-$50.00
Sunday Church Service, Free
Plaque Dedication Ceremony, Free

* All events will be held at the Jackson campus of Tougaloo College, one of the oldest African-American colleges in America.

Contributions

To help make this historic reunion event a success, we need your help. You can make a tax deductable contribution on-line, or send one to:

1961 Freedom Riders 40th Reunion
68 Ramona Av, San Francisco 94103

* The 1961 Freedom Riders 40th Reunion is a project of SFFSC, a 501(c)(3) non- profit organization (Employer ID #93 -1048117; and California Corporation Organization ID #D-1684251 SF5FS.) Names of donors may appear on official press and public promotional materials, unless otherwise requested.

Contact the Freedom Riders Foundation

If you have any questions or comments about the reunion, please contact us at:

Freedom Riders Foundation
68 Ramona Av, San Francisco 94103

email: reunion@freedomridersfoundation.org

Phone: 1-800-335-8891

Thanks for helping to make this reunion a success.

We hope to see you in Jackson!

Information for Attendees

Please RSVP

If you are a Freedom Rider, please let us know if you:

will attend
will not attend
cannot attend (for financial, medical or schedulereasons)
or are undecided.

Special Needs

The Freedom Riders Foundation wants all of the Freedom Riders to be able to attend this reunion. Should you be in need of financial or medical assistance to attend, please contact the Foundation at any of the addresses or numbers. Depending on tax-deductible contributions raised for this event, the Freedom Riders Foundation will do everything possible to ensure that all of the Freedom Riders who want to attend this historic event may do so.

Hotels

The Jackson Convention and Visitors Center Bureau has arranged a special hotel discount rate for the Freedom Riders and their friends attending the reunion. A block of 200 rooms hasbeen reserved at the Crowne Plaza and Edison Walthall Hotels located directly across the street from each other on Capitol Street in downtown Jackson. Our special group rate is $75.00 per room pernight (plus tax), smoking and non-smoking rooms are available.

Reserve your room at either of these fine hotels. And don't forget to tell them that you are with the Freedom Riders to receive your discount.

Crowne Plaza Hotel
1-800-227-6963
http://www.basshotels.com/crowneplaza?_franchisee=JANDT

Edison Walthall Hotel
1-800-932-6161
http://www.edisonwalthallhotel.com/

Contact the Freedom Riders Foundation

If you have any questions or comments about the reunion, please contact us at:

Freedom Riders Foundation
68 Ramona Av, San Francisco 94103

email: reunion@freedomridersfoundation.org

Phone: 1-800-335-8891

Thanks for helping to make this reunion a success.

We hope to see you in Jackson!

The Freedom Riders Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt foundation.

Tentative Schedule of Events

Pre-Reunion
November 7th - 8th Pre-Registration	Freedom Riders who arrive early may register and begin their oral histories by inquiring at the front desk of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
Official Reunion
Thursday, November 8th
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm	Welcome Reception at the Mississippi Museum of Art Located two blocks from the Crowne Plaza and Edison Walthall Hotels. Transportation will be available for those in need of assistance. (Limited to Freedom Riders, Immediate Family, VIPs and Media)
Friday, November 9th
9:30 am - 1:00 pm	Civil Rights Bus Tour Stops include visits to the Jackson City Jail, the home of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, and the Old Capitol Museum. (Limited to Freedom Riders, Immediate Family, VIPS and Media)
Lunch 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm	Lunch - Freelon's In the heart of the historic African-American Farish Street District (Limited to Freedom Riders, Immediate Family, VIPs and Media)
3:00 pm - 4:00	Planetarium News Footage Showing Visit to Planetarium where news footage of 1961 Freedom Rides will be shown on the ceiling of the planetarium. Located two blocks from the Crowne Plaza and Edison Walthall Hotels. Transportation available for those in need of assistance. (Limited to Freedom Riders, Immediate Family, VIPS and Media)
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm	Return to hotel. Free time. Individual & group oral interviews continue.
5:15pm - 7:00 pm	Gathering at the Old Greyhound Bus Depot Site of Freedom Riders arrests. Bus Depot now the offices of Robert Adams, renowned state and local architect. Building still retains original façade and fixtures from Bus Depot days. Refreshments served. Located directly across the street from Crowne Plaza. (Limited to Freedom Riders, Immediate Family, VIPs and Media)
Dinner 7:00 pm - ?	Dinner - On Your Own A list of restaurants within walking distance will be provided.
Saturday, November 10th (Public invited all day)
9:00 am - 10:00 am	Shuttle Service to Tougaloo From Hotels
Keynote Speeches 10:00 am - 11:30 am	Invocation Keynote speeches by architects & participants of the Freedom Rides including: - Reverend James Bevel (whose strategy of filling the jails with children, with the blessings of Dr. King, helped win civil rights victories throughout the South) - Reverend C.T. Vivian (who helped coordinate the Freedom Rides) - Bob Singleton (Chair of the Economics Department at UCLA) - Dr. James Forman (former President of SNCC) - Dave Dennis (Field Director for CORE MS Project and Co-Director of COFO) - Hon. Tom Hayden (former CA State Senator & Albany, GA Freedom Rider -tentative) - Hon. Bob Filner (US Congressman from San Diego, CA) - Rabbi Israel Dresner (Tallahassee, FL Freedom Rider) - Hon. Carol Ruth Silver (former San Francisco Supervisor; Reunion Chair) - David Lisker (Reunion Coordinator) - Steve McNichols ("The Last Freedom Ride" - Houston, TX) - Others to be announced
Panel Discussions 11:30 - 12:30	Panel Discussion on the Freedom Rides (panel members to be announced)
Lunch 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm	Food will be available for purchase at Tougaloo College and nearby
Workshops 1:30 pm - 2:30	Workshop A1: Group Oral History - The public is invited to watch the filming of the oral history of a group of Freedom Riders who served time in the MS State Penitentiary at Parchman Farm. Workshop A2: Step Into My Penny Loafers - Joan Browning shares her memorabilia and experiences of her time as a Freedom Rider in Albany, GA and leads a discussion among other Freedom Rides on their own experiences. Workshop A3: Presenting the Freedom Rides in Art and Video - Jackson performance artist James Green presents a video of a play incorporating real testimony from and about the Freedom Riders and how it affected local residents in the Jackson. area. Discussion on the Freedom Rides in the arts with author Steve McNichols of "The Last Freedom Ride" and Judith Reinitz, NY visual artist.
2:30 pm - 3:00 pm	Break
Workshops 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm	Workshop B1: Teaching The Movement - Educators attending the Reunion will share methods and materials for teaching the movement to grades K-12. Educators are invited to share their ideas. Workshop B2: Women in the Movement - Joan Browning, Julia Aaron Humbles and other women share their experiences in the Movement. Workshop B3: Where Do We Go From Here? - In a world of increasing uncertainty and danger, how do we preserve and extend the gains that our sacrifices won? With Carol Ruth Silver and Bob Singleton
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm	Shuttle Service to Hotel
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm	Free Time (Dinner On Your Own)
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm	Shuttle Service to Tougaloo
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm	Saturday Night Freedom Song Hootenanny. Performers to be announced. Freedom Song lyrics will be provided. Expect to sing along
9:30 pm - 10:30 pm	Shuttle Service to Hotel
Sunday, November 11th
8:45 am - 9:45 am	Shuttle Service to Tougaloo
9:45 am - 11:15 am	Sunday Morning Ecumenical Religious Service on Tougaloo College Chapel Lawn
11:15 am	Plaque Dedication. Honoring The Freedom Riders at Tougaloo College by Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. and the people of Jackson
Farewells 11:30 am - 12:30 pm	Reunion Ends. Shuttle Service to Hotels Final oral histories conducted for those staying over in Jackson

Press Information

1961 Freedom Riders 40th Reunion

Jackson, Mississippi, Veterans Day Weekend, November 8-11, 2001
______________________

68 Ramona Av, San Francisco 94103

(415) 285-1645, reunion@freedomridersfoundation.org

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: David Lisker, 888-242-5415

Carol Ruth Silver, 800-815-8103

Alex Dolan, 415-543-0143

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1961 Landmark Civil Rights Movement Comes Together Again

SEARCH FOR THE FREEDOM RIDERS

Where are they now?

JACKSON, MI — August 1st, 2001 — Forty Years after the 400 Freedom Riders rode in buses down to Jackson, the civil rights pioneers will be making the trip again. A reunion of the 1961 Freedom Riders will bring together the men and women responsible for taking one of the first and greatest stands against segregation in the United States. Currently, the greatest challenge facing the reunion is tracking down everyone who rode to Jackson in 1961.

"The reunion of the 1961 Freedom Riders in November promises to one of the great chapters of the Civil Rights Movement," says Carol Ruth Silver, one of the Freedom Riders and the Reunion Chair. "We have already been able to locate over 100 Freedom Riders, but the real trick will be to find everyone after 40 years. This is a historic moment for civil rights, and we don't want to leave anyone out, so it's crucial that we do what we can to find everybody who was a part of the original movement."

In the spring of 1961, 400 men and women, both black and white, many of them university students from the North, boarded buses, trains and planes bound for the still segregated South. They had a collective goal of testing the enforcement of a Supreme Court ruling that outlawed segregation at interstate public facilities. On their historic journey to the South, the Freedom Riders endured mob violence, and some 350 of the 400 Freedom Riders were arrested in Jackson on “breach of peace” charges.

What will the Freedom Riders find in Jackson after 40 years? The President of the Jackson City Council has promised them “a much warmer welcome than the last time they were in Jackson.” A welcome change, considering many of them had to sign agreements in 1961 promising never again to return to Mississippi.

Silver comments, "After 40 years, the return of the Freedom Riders to Jackson is a reminder to everyone across the country that the issues of racism and civil rights are as important now as they were then. It is also a chance to acknowledge that the risks that these men and women took were instrumental in making some positive changes in our culture. We want to be able to thank the people who had the courage to face the hatred and violence, and tell them that it was worth it."

For information on the 1961 Freedom Riders 40th Reunion, visit the web at www.freedomridersfoundation.com or call 1-800-335-8891. The reunion is also seeking funders to play a critical role in making the November event happen. Please call or email to see how you can get involved.