June Carter Cash
Musical Monikers
Madonna
Justin Bieber
My Ghost Story
I Survived
Babe Ruth
Johnny Cash
Georgia O'Keefe
I Survived
1 photo
Quick Facts
- NAME: Claudette Colvin
- OCCUPATION: Civil Rights Activist, Medical Professional
- BIRTH DATE: September 05, 1939 (Age: 73)
- ZODIAC SIGN: Virgo
Best Known For
Claudette Colvin was a civil rights activist in Alabama during the 1950s. She refused to give up her seat on a bus months before Rosa Parks' more famous protest.
Quiz
Think you know about Biography?
Answer questions and see how you rank against other players.
Play NowClaudette Colvin. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 05:18, May 21, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/claudette-colvin-11378.
Claudette Colvin. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/claudette-colvin-11378 [Accessed 21 May 2013].
"Claudette Colvin." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 21 2013, 05:18 http://www.biography.com/people/claudette-colvin-11378.
"Claudette Colvin," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/claudette-colvin-11378 [accessed May 21, 2013].
"Claudette Colvin," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/claudette-colvin-11378 (accessed May 21, 2013).
Claudette Colvin [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 21] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/claudette-colvin-11378.
Claudette Colvin, http://www.biography.com/people/claudette-colvin-11378 (last visited May 21, 2013).
Claudette Colvin. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/claudette-colvin-11378. Accessed May 21, 2013.
Synopsis
Claudette Colvin was born on September 5, 1939, in Montgomery, Alabama. On March 2, 1955, she refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. She was arrested and became one of four plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, which ruled that Montgomery's segregated bus system was unconstitutional. Colvin moved to New York City and worked as a nurse's aide. She retired in 2004.
Profile
Civil rights activist. Born on September 5, 1939, in Montgomery, Alabama. Months before Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin stood up against segregation in Alabama in 1955. She was only 15 years old at the time. Colvin also served as a plaintiff in the landmark legal case, Browder v. Gayle, which helped end the practice of segregation on Montgomery public buses.
Growing up in one of Montgomery's poorer neighborhoods, Colvin studied hard at school. She earned mostly As in her classes and even aspired to become president one day. On March 2, 1955, Colvin was riding home on a city bus after school when a bus driver told her to give up her seat to a white passenger. She refused, saying "It's my constitutional right to sit here as much as that lady. I paid my fare, it's my constitutional right." Colvin felt compelled to stand her ground. "I felt like Sojourner Truth was pushing down on one shoulder and Harriet Tubman was pushing down on the other—saying, 'Sit down girl!' I was glued to my seat," she later told Newsweek.
Colvin was arrested on several charges, including violating the city's segregation laws. For several hours, she sat in jail, completely terrified. "I was really afraid, because you just didn't know what white people might do at that time," Colvin later said. After her minister paid her bail, she went home where she and her family stayed up all night out of concern for possible retaliation.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People briefly considered using Colvin's case to challenge the segregation laws, but they decided against it because of her age. She also became pregnant around the time of her arrest, and they thought an unwed mother would attract too much negative attention in a public legal battle. Her son, Raymond, was born in December 1955.
In court, Colvin opposed the segregation law by declaring herself not guilty. The court, however, ruled against her, and put her on probation. Despite the light sentence, Colvin could not escape the court of public opinion. The once-quiet student was branded a troublemaker by some, and she had to drop out of college. Her reputation also made it impossible for her to find a job.
Despite her personal challenges, Colvin became one of the four plaintiffs in the Browder v. Gayle case. The decision in the 1956 case ruled that Montgomery's segregated bus system was unconstitutional.
Two years later Colvin moved to New York City, where she had her second son, Randy, and worked as a nurse's aide at a Manhattan nursing home. She retired in 2004.
Much of the writing on civil rights history in Montgomery has focused on the arrest of Rosa Parks, another woman who refused to give up her seat on the bus, nine months after Colvin.
profile name: Claudette Colvin profile occupation:
Your Connections
Sign in with Facebook to see how you and your friends are connected to famous icons.
Profile Connections
Included In These Groups
-
Famous Virgoans
View groupMichael Jackson is one, so is Stephen King and Greta Garbo. Some say typical traits of Virgoans are helpful, critical, shy, and meticulous. Meet some famous people who share the astrological sign Virgo.
Famous Virgoans 561 people in this group
-
Famous Black Activists
View groupAfrican-Americans have a long history of activism in America, from fighting for the right to vote to pushing for integrated public spaces. Activists like Stokely Carmichael organized freedom rides, James Meredith fought to integrate blacks and whites at the University of Mississippi, and Rosa Parks instigated the Montgomery Bus Boycott. These protests were often legal and nonviolent, and made a powerful impact on civil rights in the United States. With the help of activists like these—and many others—the country slowly worked to acknowledge the basic rights and contributions of African-Americans. Activists outisde of the U.S. include Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela, who have fought against apartheid in South Africa. Learn more about the many black activists who fought against the odds in order to achieve equality.
Famous Black Activists 133 people in this group
-
Famous Civil Rights Activists
View group"Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love." Stated by legendary civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., these words represent a basic human philosophy to which black history's greatest leaders have passionately subscribed. Learn more about the world's most revered civil rights activists, known for their fight against social injustices and lasting impact on the lives of black citizens, including Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Nelson Mandela, Nina Simone, Mary McLeod Bethune, Lena Horne, Marva Collins, Rosa Parks, W.E.B. Du Bois, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
Famous Civil Rights Activists 156 people in this group
