An original Freedom Rider from 1961 and a man who documented the group's experiences will visit Ohio University today.
In a presentation sponsored by the Black Student Cultural Programming Board (BSCPB), Eric Etheridge will present his new book Breach of Peace, which contains more than 400 photos of the Freedom Riders - some original mug shots and some of Etheridge's own work. Original Freedom Rider Hezekiah Watkins also will speak.
Once I saw (the images) ... I thought the set deserved wider circulation
so I tried to find (the Freedom Riders) today and make new portraits said Etheridge, who began photographing and interviewing the Riders in 2005 after their files were released for public use in the late 1990s.
After the 1960 U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregation in bus stations illegal in Boynton v. Virginia, men and women, blacks and whites, gathered at bus stations to try to compel the court to enforce the decision. What resulted were arrests of 328 people, called the Freedom Riders, including Watkins, then 13 years old.
It was purely by accident Watkins said. I heard there was a mass meeting being held ... so I went downtown to take a look at what was going to happen and ended up being arrested in the bus station for being in a white waiting area. ... They thought I was a Freedom Rider.
Instead of being given due process, Watkins was sent straight to death row. A few days later, however, the governor of Mississippi ordered Watkins' release.
The most important thing
even now
that I look back at is when I was incarcerated at 13 ... being on death row when I didn't even know the meaning at the time
Watkins said.
Etheridge tells this, along with the stories of several other Riders, in his book, which can be purchased from a booth set up by Follett's Bookstore for $30 immediately following the presentation. The event costs BSCPB $7,000 and is covered by the group's Student Activities Commission funds, said Alicia Boards, BSCPB's faculty adviser.
It's more of an intimate portrayal of what happened
Boards said. You have this guy who did all this research
then you have someone there to actually tell their story.
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