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Friends of the Freedom Rides Museum asks county for $10,000 to bring Freedom Riders and fund airport exhibit
Summary
Dorothy Walker, speaking for the Friends of the Freedom Rides Museum, requested $10,000 to help bring surviving Freedom Riders to Montgomery for a July 24 event marking the 65th anniversary of integrated flights and to fund a new exhibit at Montgomery Airport commemorating the 'few who flew.'
Dorothy Walker, representing the Friends of the Freedom Rides Museum, asked the Montgomery County Commission for $10,000 to support an event on July 24 honoring Freedom Riders who challenged segregation at Southern airports in 1961 and to create a permanent exhibit at Montgomery Airport telling that part of the city's civil-rights history.
Walker said the exhibit would recognize a small group of activists — "the few who flew" — who helped end segregation at airports across the Deep South. She said the Friends group plans an exhibit and public program to mark the 65th anniversary and expects surviving participants and family members to attend; the Pettway family and three surviving riders were named as expected guests. Walker said the group has documented about 436 Freedom Riders, with a subset who challenged airport segregation and five who passed through Montgomery Airport.
Commissioners thanked Walker for the presentation and indicated staff would follow-up; no appropriation was voted on during the meeting. Walker asked residents to donate and to visit freedomridersfly.org for more information and to support the exhibit and event.
