Freedom Riders, from left, John Lewis, Charles Butler, Catherine Burks Brooks, Lucretia Collins, and Salynn McCollum sit on a bench in the Birmingham Greyhound station on May 17, 1961. Soon after the photo was taken, the group was arrested and later released in a rural all-white area on the orders of Birmingham commissioner of public safety Eugene "Bull" Connor.
Freedom Riders in Birmingham
![](https://bunny-wp-pullzone-5vqgtgkbhi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Freedom-Riders-in-Bus-Station-1280x1300.jpg)
Courtesy of the Birmingham News. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
![](https://bunny-wp-pullzone-5vqgtgkbhi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Freedom-Riders-in-Bus-Station-1280x1300.jpg)