The freedom riders were groups of college students from Washington D.C. and Nashville who brought the segregation and mistreatment of Americans in the south into national and international news. The movement was extremely successful in attaining national involvement in fixing the racial tension in the south. This movements success and importance has not always been given the recognition which it and its members deserve.
My design for a Freedom Riders Memorial in the Montgomery fountain would have the fountain replaced by a grass field of the same dimensions with a 25 foot radius. A road would run through the center of the monument pointing North. A Scenicruiser bus, the same model as the bus in the Anniston riot, would be on the road facing south with its seats removed. The tires of the bus would be slashed just as they were in Anniston. The windows of the bus would be tented making it difficult to see in and out of the bus. However, the back widow of the buss would be shattered. This is because the back widow of the Anniston bus was shattered and a fire bomb was then thrown into the bus. The tinted windows are meant to make it difficult to see to represent the smoke of the fire. Outside of the bus there would be dark tinted glass surrounding the bus like a mob. Each glass pane would be 1.5 feet wide and 5'10" tall have an engraving describing a time when one of the Freedom Riders experienced an instance of unlawful segregation or mistreatment. The top of the inscription would say the location in which the event occurred and example of an inscription would be:
My design for a Freedom Riders Memorial in the Montgomery fountain would have the fountain replaced by a grass field of the same dimensions with a 25 foot radius. A road would run through the center of the monument pointing North. A Scenicruiser bus, the same model as the bus in the Anniston riot, would be on the road facing south with its seats removed. The tires of the bus would be slashed just as they were in Anniston. The windows of the bus would be tented making it difficult to see in and out of the bus. However, the back widow of the buss would be shattered. This is because the back widow of the Anniston bus was shattered and a fire bomb was then thrown into the bus. The tinted windows are meant to make it difficult to see to represent the smoke of the fire. Outside of the bus there would be dark tinted glass surrounding the bus like a mob. Each glass pane would be 1.5 feet wide and 5'10" tall have an engraving describing a time when one of the Freedom Riders experienced an instance of unlawful segregation or mistreatment. The top of the inscription would say the location in which the event occurred and example of an inscription would be:
Birmingham Alabama
Nashville Freedom riders arrested. Bull Connor ordered police to block the windows so that media could not take pictures of the arrest and so that police cars holding the riders could not be followed.
The glass would be placed by where the event took place. With Washington as the the furthest north and Birmingham as the furthest south. Inside the bus instead of stories of injustice instead there would stories of the times the freedom riders made a difference of when a bystander attempted to help the freedom riders an example is:
Jane Forsyth
12 year old daughter of a clan member who gave water to drink after they escaped the burning bus.
(Need to finish writing & add sources)
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