Freedom Riders return to once-segregated Petersburg bus station

PETERSBURG, Va. — Some of the original Freedom Riders from the summer of 1961 arrived to great fanfare in Petersburg on Tuesday morning, returning to a bus station that was once segregated as part of an effort to re-trace their original route.

They got a far different welcome than the one they received six decades ago, when the first group of Freedom Riders boarded buses and headed south to help desegregate bus terminals across the South.

It was a movement that changed the United States.

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"I've always said that all roads to the Civil Rights Movement has come through Petersburg," Petersburg mayor Sam Parham said.

Steve Thomas was just 16 years old when he made the trip to Montgomery, Alabama.

"We did not know what was going to happen when we got to Montgomery. The last time Freedom Riders were in Montgomery, they were almost killed," Thomas said.

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On this day, they arrived at the old Petersburg Trailways Bus Station — greeted by the Petersburg High School band — to be recognized and celebrated.

Jacquelyn Carey remembers the station differently.

She first came to the Petersburg bus station when she was 10 years old.

"It was still segregated at the time, there were separate water fountains, separate rest rooms, and all those facilities were not really up to par," Carey said.

Now 81 years old, she says she is here for a different experience.

"I want to see, I want to experience again, what was and experience now, what is," she said.

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The Freedom Riders did accomplish desegregating bus stations in the South, and then branched into voting rights for African Americans.

"They're still here, trying to let us know how it was, so that history never repeats itself, it's amazing. And I'm so honored to be here," Tony Waters said.

As each year passes, many say these types of events are still important to educate young people.

"Young people, not unlike the students at Virginia State University, died to make the sacrifices, so that we can do things that we do now, and it wasn't that long ago. That's an important lesson, a very important lesson," Dr. Makola M. Abdullah, president of Virginia State University, said.

The historic Petersburg bus station is now open as a specialty coffee and pastry shop, serving as one of the most integrated buildings in the city.

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"We have people from different cultures. We have different colors. We have different backgrounds. We have different religious, and it's beautiful and everybody is getting along and talking and loving and sharing and that's beautiful," Faris Al Sanibani, owner of Griffin Lounge, said.

While the Freedom Riders have left Petersburg on their journey south, they leave behind a reminder that not only were they here — they made a difference.

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