This Day in History

Dec. 20, 1956: Montgomery Bus Boycott Prevails

Time Periods: Cold War: 1945 - 1960

Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Laws & Citizen Rights

On Dec. 20, 1956 a federal ruling declared the Alabama laws requiring segregated buses to be unconstitutional.

Montgomery Boycott Ends | Zinn Education Project

African Americans boarding an integrated bus following the Supreme Court ruling, a result of the successful 381-day boycott of segregated buses. Photo by Don Cravens. Source: Time Life Pictures/Getty Images.

To learn more, we recommend Daybreak of Freedom: The Montgomery Bus Boycott, a documentary history of the boycott with more than one hundred original documents that create a comprehensive account of the year-long protest.

Find more resources below.

Related Resources

Teaching Activities (Free)

The Rebellious Lives of Mrs. Rosa Parks

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow.
In this mixer lesson, students learn about Rosa Parks' many decades of activism by taking on roles from various times in her life. In this way, students learn about her radicalism before, during, and long after the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Books: Non-Fiction

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks: Young Readers Edition

Book — Non-fiction. By Jeanne Theoharis and Brandy Colbert. 2021.
This biography of Rosa Parks accessibly examines her six decades of activism, challenging young readers’ perceptions of her as an accidental actor in the Civil Rights Movement.

Books: Non-Fiction

She Would Not Be Moved: How We Tell the Story of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Book — Non-fiction. By Herbert Kohl. Intro by Marian Wright Edelman. 2007. 126 pages.
The myths and facts about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Articles

The Politics of Children’s Literature: What’s Wrong with the Rosa Parks Myth

Article. By Herbert Kohl. Rethinking Schools.
A critical analysis that challenges the myths in children's books about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Books: Non-Fiction

Daybreak of Freedom: The Montgomery Bus Boycott

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by Stewart Burns 1997. 392 pages.
A documentary history of the Montgomery bus boycott that reverberates with the voices of those closest to the boycott.

Books: Non-Fiction

Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Book — Non-fiction. By Russell Freedman. 2006. 114 pages.
Written for middle school, the grassroots history of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Pies from Nowhere (Book Cover) | Zinn Education Project

Picture Books

Pies from Nowhere: How Georgia Gilmore Sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Picture book. By Dee Romito. Illustrated by Laura Freeman. 2018. 40 pages.
The story of Georgia Gilmore and the Club from Nowhere, a grassroots project to provide food and funds for the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Teaching Guides

Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching

Teaching Guide and Website. Edited by Deborah Menkart, Alana D. Murray, and Jenice L. View. 2004.
Provides lessons and articles for K-12 educators on how to go beyond a heroes approach to the Civil Rights Movement, with a focus on education, economics, labor, youth, women, and culture.