Sarah Keys Evans: The Power of Quiet Courage

Book — Non-fiction. By Amy Nathan with Sarah Keys Evans, and illustrated by Jermaine Powell. 2025. 72 pages.
Chapter book about how Sarah Keys Evans was arrested at a North Carolina bus station in 1952 for not moving to the back of a bus. She went on to challenge the arrest in court.

Time Periods: 1945–1960

In 1952 and dressed in her Women’s Army Corps uniform, Sarah Keys Evans was arrested at a North Carolina bus station for not moving to the back of a bus.

As Deborah Menkart notes,

Sarah Key Evans’ story, along with many others who protested racism on public transportation in the 19th and 20th centuries, are omitted from most history books. Thankfully, Amy Nathan and Evans have broken that silence in a beautifully written book for upper elementary students. Readers learn that standing up for justice requires years worth of determination, patience, and courage.

Evans was brave when she righteously refused to move on the bus, but there would have been no legal victory were it not for her continued bravery to pursue the case, to face lies about her actions, and to testify at hearings.

As the book also makes clear, Evans’ family and attorney Dovey Johnson Roundtree provided crucial support. Evans’s story will inspire readers and offer a roadmap of the pitfalls and possibilities when pursuing justice.

ISBN: 9780865265134 | North Carolina Division of Archives & History