Claudette Colvin was just 15 years old when she made history in Montgomery, Alabama. On March 2, 1955—nine months before Rosa Parks—Colvin refused to give up her seat on a segregated city bus. Inspired by lessons on Black American history and the Constitution, she later said she felt Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth “pushing down” on her shoulders, telling her to stay seated. She was arrested, handcuffed, and jailed for her defiance.

Despite her courage, civil rights leaders chose not to place Colvin at the center of the public campaign against bus segregation. They believed her youth, her working-class background, and the fact that she later became pregnant while unmarried might distract from the movement’s message in a deeply judgmental Jim Crow society.

Yet Colvin’s impact was decisive. She was one of four plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, the federal case that ended bus segregation in Montgomery in 1956. Her story reminds us that transformative change often begins with young people—and that some heroes remain unhidden far too long.

The Joy Trip Project celebrates the enduring legacy of American History. The Unhidden Minute is part of the Unhidden Podcast Project supported through a National Geographic Explorer Grant from the National Geographic Society, with the cooperation of the National Park Service. This series elevates the untold stories of Black American historical figures, events and cultural contributions.

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