Autumn 2020 Catalogue

41 American Heroes & Leaders Autumn 2020 “A One-Man Civil Disobedience Movement” 40. HOUSER, George and RUSTIN, Bayard. We Challenged Jim Crow! A Report on the Journey of Reconciliation April 9-23, 1947. Newark, 1947. Slimoctavo, staple-bound as issued, original tan self-wrappers. $1800. Click for more info First edition of Rustin and Houser’s bold report on their 1947 “Journey of Reconciliation,” in effect the first Freedom Ride against Jim Crow segregation in a series of interracial trips through the South, citing the arrest of civil rights leader Rustin that led to his sentence of hard labor on a chain gang, a pivotal inspiration for the 1960s Freedom Rides, in original wrappers. Rustin was “one of the great theorists and practitioners of the civil rights movement and a principal organizer of the great 1963 March on Washington” ( Washington Post ). By the time the 1946 Supreme Court Morgan decision declared segregation of passengers on interstate train and bus travel unconstitutional, Rustin was already “a one-man civil disobedience movement… no one who knew himwell was surprised when he, along with George Houser, came up with the provocative idea of an interracial bus ride through the South” (Arsenault, 28). The two men organized what they called a “Journey of Reconciliation”—trips by interracial volunteers across four states. Met with violence and threats as the Morgan decision was virtually ignored by drivers, conductors and police, Rustin and two others were sentenced to hard labor on a chain gang. That landmark first Freedom Ride was the inspiration and model for the 1961 Freedom Riders who were also met by arrests and violence. Published by the Fellowship of Reconciliation and CORE (Congress of Racial Equality). Text fresh with small chip to rear wrapper not affecting text. A near-fine copy.