MLK Jr. with Abernathy and Farmer

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking with a group of Freedom Riders, including (center) Ralph Abernathy and James Farmer.

Freedom Riders in Birmingham

Freedom Riders at the home of Dr. Richard Harris after the church siege in Birmingham, AL. Included are Lucretia Collins (center), James Farmer (far right) and John Lewis (ground, right).

Freedom Riders at Bus Depot

Freedom Riders, including James Peck and James Farmer, wait to board a bus for Richmond, VA.

The original Freedom Riders

The original Freedom Riders: Front, left to right: Joe Perkins, Charles Person, Frances Bergman, Genevieve Hughes, and Jimmy MacDonald; Back, left to right: John Lewis, Jim Peck, Ed Blankenheim, Hank Thomas, Walter Bergman, James Farmer. Not pictured: Rev. Benjamin Elton Cox, and Albert Bigelow.

Genevieve Hughes Houghton

On why Farmer feared having a white woman participate in the Rides

MLK Jr. in Alabama

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the telephone after encountering a white mob protesting against the Freedom Riders in Montgomery, AL.

MLK Jr. with Freedom Riders in Alabama

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (left) and Ralph Abernathy (right) talking with Freedom Riders at the home of Dr. Richard Harris in Montgomery, AL.

John Seigenthaler

On how the Movement liberated white Americans, too

The Inspiration

Mahatma Gandhi's nonviolent movement to free India from British colonial rule inspired American civil rights activists who had immersed themselves in Ghandi's teachings and viewed non-violence as an effective way to challenge the tyranny of the Jim Crow South.