Starting with two buses in Washington D.C., and inspiring more than 400 people from all over the country to join the movement, the Freedom Rides of 1961 exposed the indignity and injustice of segregated travel and struck a powerful blow to Jim Crow laws. Images of a firebombed bus outside Anniston, Alabama, and the brutal attack on riders shocked the American public, inspired empathy, and galvanized public sentiment that forced the federal government to take steps to end segregation in interstate travel nationwide. Nomad Studio worked in partnership with Southern Custom Exhibits and the National Park Service to tell this story at Freedom Riders National Monument.

Historical image courtesy of the National Park Service.