Buses and Freedom Riders

[WMAveteran]

PBS is currently running a 2 hour program (FREEDOM RIDERS: AMERICAN EXPERIENCE) that describes the 1961 Freedom Rides in great detail.  This is as much a story about buses as it is about the struggle for human rights, so even if you don't care about human rights the bus and train sequences are classic and informative.  The star of the first part of the program is Greyhound #1947 which is a meticulously restored GM Silversides that is part of Greyhound's classic bus fleet.  The rest of the film sequences are newsreels of the actual Greyhound and Trailways buses used during the freedom rides including the Greyhound PD 4104 that was burned in Anniston, Alabama.  There is rare footage of a Trailways Flxible Two-Level that was used during one of the trips and Illinois Central passenger trains.  Take a ride and learn something.