The Wheels of the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement

The American Civil Rights Movement is often defined and remembered by its leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X. And while contributions by these and other leaders can hardly be overstated, it was the courage of private citizens that proved to be the backbone of the civil rights movement. Worcy Crawford, Sr. is one of those citizens. In The Wheels of the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement, Crawford, now 89 years old, shares his amazing story and contributions to racial equality as Alabama's firstknown black bus owner. With a $50 down payment, Crawford purchased a single bus in 1951 to supplement his income, transporting an all-black traveling baseball team known as the Ensley All-Stars. Crawford soon built a small but important fleet of buses, which provided transportation for Birmingham's church groups and social clubs, as well as to black schools that white-owned bus companies would not serve. In 1959, Crawford started transporting students from Miles College to Montgomery for civil rights' demonstrations. For the next decade, Crawford's company bused thousands of protesters to marches throughout the country, including a special trip to Washington D.C. for King's 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech. In 1975, 24 years after purchasing his first bus, the Alabama Public Service Commission officially recognized Crawford's bus company. (Until the 1970s, African Americans in Birmingham who owned their own bus companies had to legally register their buses under a church's name.) In 1999, Crawford was honored by the cities of Birmingham and Fairfield, AL for his civic contributions and received a letter of appreciation from President Bill Clinton. The Wheels of Birmingham is the story of one shining example of ordinary people contributing to an extraordinary movement.