Anniston Memorial Hospital

Seven injured Freedom Riders arrived at Anniston Memorial Hospital after a mob that had attacked them earlier in the day followed them there. The Riders were testing desegregation of public transportation in the South by riding buses. The bus they had been riding was attacked at the Anniston Greyhound bus station and again six miles outside the city. When asked by hospital staff to separate into black and white waiting rooms, the Riders refused. The staff proceeded to treat the Riders, defying the demands of the extremists gathered outside. Meanwhile, Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth organized parishioners in Birmingham to retrieve the Riders from Anniston.

Anniston, Alabama · United States