Entry · catalog no. 2092
Freedom Rider
/ /ˈfɹidəm ˈɹaɪdɚ/ /FREE-dum RY-der
noun · Washington, D.C. to the Deep South · 1960s
✓ Verified
1.
One of the Black and white activists who rode interstate buses and used whites-only terminals in 1961 to test and end segregation in travel.
“John Lewis was among the Freedom Riders beaten in Montgomery.”
2.
By extension, a person who takes part in direct action to break a segregation or injustice.
“She called herself a Freedom Rider of the nursing profession.”
Origin & Attribution
The name comes from the 1961 Freedom Rides, begun May 4, 1961 from Washington, D.C. by the Congress of Racial Equality under James Farmer, and carried on by students from the Nashville movement including Diane Nash and John Lewis after riders were attacked in Alabama. The tactic had a forerunner in the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation by Bayard Rustin, George Houser and others. "Freedom Rider" was the riders' own name, taken up by the press; the movement was Black-led.
1947
Journey of Reconciliation, the forerunner
1961
CORE's Freedom Rides begin May 4 from Washington, D.C.
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
The South
Washington, D.C. to the Deep South · 1960s
Spoken by
Civil rights activists; Black and interracial movement communities; historians
$FREEDOThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Enduring65 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
55/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1961
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@nolakid
New Orleans, LA
@htxdri
Houston, TX
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Citations & Sources
■
Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, 'Freedom Rides'
web
■
NCpedia, 'Journey of Reconciliation, 1947'
web
■
+ Cite a sourceWikipedia, 'Freedom Riders'
web
See also