Freedom Riders National Monument

Anniston, Alabama

Tells the Hallowing Story of the “Freedom Riders.”

East of Montgomery in Anniston is a nine stop driving tour. In 1961, segregationists attacked an inter-racial band of “Freedom Riders”.  At the local bus station, a mob threw rocks and slashed the tires of the bus.  Escorted by police, the bus then departed for Birmingham with the mob in pursuit.  Six miles away on the side of the highway, they firebombed the hobbled bus and attempted to trap the Freedom Riders inside it.  The captured images were sent around the world.  The tour highlights the events of that fateful day.

The Freedom Riders bus in flames after a firebombing on Mother’s Day, 1961 just outside Anniston, Alabama.