At a Glance
- Claudette Colvin, arrested at 15 for refusing to give up her bus seat in 1955, has died at 86
- Her act of defiance came nine months before Rosa Parks’ famous protest
- Colvin was a plaintiff in the lawsuit that ended bus segregation in Montgomery
- Why it matters: Her overlooked courage helped spark the modern civil rights movement
Claudette Colvin, the 15-year-old whose refusal to surrender her seat on a segregated Montgomery bus in 1955 predated Rosa Parks’ historic stand and helped ignite the civil rights movement, has died of natural causes in Texas at age 86.
The Claudette Colvin Legacy Foundation announced her death Tuesday. Ashley D. Roseboro of the organization confirmed the details.
The Defiant Act That Preceded Parks
On March 2, 1955, Colvin boarded a city bus after school. The front rows were reserved for white passengers. She sat in the back with other Black riders. When the white section filled, the driver demanded Black passengers give up their seats.
Colvin refused.
“My mindset was on freedom,” she recalled in 2021. “So I was not going to move that day. I told them that history had me glued to the seat.”
Her arrest came at a pivotal moment. Frustration was already mounting over the treatment of Black passengers on Montgomery buses. In October 1955, another Black teenager, Mary Louise Smith, faced arrest and a fine for the same act of resistance.
The Lawsuit That Changed Everything
While Rosa Parks’ December 1955 arrest became the catalyst for the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Colvin’s earlier defiance played a crucial legal role. She served as one of four plaintiffs in the landmark federal lawsuit that ultimately outlawed racial segregation on Montgomery’s buses.
The yearlong boycott launched Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. into national prominence and marked the beginning of the modern civil rights movement.
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed emphasized Colvin’s overlooked contribution, stating her action “helped lay the legal and moral foundation for the movement that would change America.”
“Claudette Colvin’s life reminds us that movements are built not only by those whose names are most familiar, but by those whose courage comes early, quietly, and at great personal cost,” Reed said. “Her legacy challenges us to tell the full truth of our history and to honor every voice that helped bend the arc toward justice.”
A Legacy Finally Recognized
Despite her pivotal role, Colvin never achieved the fame of Rosa Parks. Reed acknowledged her bravery “was too often overlooked.”
In 2021, Colvin sought to clear her record, filing a petition for expungement. A judge granted her request.
“When I think about why I’m seeking to have my name cleared by the state, it is because I believe if that happened it would show the generation growing up now that progress is possible, and things do get better,” she explained. “It will inspire them to make the world better.”
Colvin’s death comes just over a month after Montgomery celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Bus Boycott, the protest that transformed her act of teenage defiance into a watershed moment for American civil rights.
