February 12th 2024.
SEPTA recently held a ceremony on February 5th to honor four incredible Black activists who played a crucial role in desegregating the public transportation system in America. According to ABC 6, Elizabeth Jennings Graham, Octavius Catto, Rosa Parks, and John Mott Drew were recognized by Philadelphia's Transportation Authority for their remarkable contributions.
One of the activists, Elizabeth Jennings Graham, is known for her courageous efforts in challenging New York City's segregated streetcars before the Civil War. Like Rosa Parks, she was forcibly removed from a streetcar for defying the social norms of the time. Her case was eventually taken to court and she was represented by Chester A. Arthur, who later became the 21st President of the United States. In 1855, Graham won her case, and by 1860, New York City had a desegregated streetcar system, thanks to her bravery and a supportive community.
Octavius Catto, another honoree, was a teacher, principal, and civil rights activist who played a crucial role in desegregating Philadelphia's streetcars. As the Zinn Education Project states, Catto's work in fighting for voting rights and desegregation ultimately led to his assassination on Election Day in 1871. In 2017, a memorial was unveiled in his honor near Philadelphia's City Hall, making it the first public sculpture in the city to honor an individual Black person. The memorial recognizes Catto's dedication to securing free elections for Black people and his role in desegregating streetcars.
Catto also worked alongside Frederick Douglass in raising all-Black regiments of soldiers during the Civil War. According to Dan Biddle, one of the authors of the book "Tasting Freedom: Octavius Catto and the Battle for Equality in Civil War America," Catto was one of the first to use mass disruption tactics, similar to those used in Black Lives Matter protests today, in his fight for equality. As Biddle shared with NPR, "While we can find very few instances of civil disobedience prior to that, somewhere Catto figured out that was the way to do it. And we believe what he did is organized pregnant women, he organized college students, to simply go on the street cars en masse."
Rosa Parks, famously known for her role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, was also honored at the ceremony. However, as History reports, Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old at the time, actually did the same act of defiance nine months before Parks did. Colvin was inspired by learning about Sojourner Truth in school and felt a sense of empowerment from her actions. As Colvin recalls, "It felt like Sojourner Truth was on one side pushing me down, and Harriet Tubman was on the other side of me pushing me down. I couldn't get up."
Unfortunately, due to concerns that Colvin's dark skin and teenage pregnancy would harm the chances of a successful civil rights case, leaders in Montgomery declined to make her the public face of the lawsuit that eventually desegregated the city's bus system. As detailed on the Rosa Parks Biography website, Parks supported Colvin's local case and eventually became fed up with asking white officials for help. She famously stated, "I had decided I would not go anywhere with a piece of paper in my hand asking white folks for any favors." Despite this, Colvin credits Parks with being the only civil rights figure in Montgomery who truly cared about her well-being and even made her the secretary of the NAACP Youth Council.
John Mott Drew, the fourth honoree, was a well-known Black businessman who owned a successful icehouse. According to Darby History, Drew noticed that many Black women employed as domestic workers were unable to reach their jobs on time or at all due to a lack of transportation options. In response, he created the John M. Drew Bus line, a jitney service that was later incorporated into the Red Arrow Lines and eventually became part of SEPTA. It is believed that Drew's license, issued by the Pennsylvania Public Service Commission in 1918, was the first ever issued by the commission. He also owned the Darby Hilldales, a Negro League baseball team, and his trolley service made it easier for Black baseball fans to attend games at Hilldale Park.
Faith Boose, SEPTA's customer experience manager, emphasized the importance of not only recognizing Black history but also American history as a whole. She stated, "We don't ever want to take for granted the transit equity to ride on transit. And then to actually, once we're there, not to be told to move because of the color of our skin. The criteria was they need to be aligned with transportation, and we wanted to look at where did the activity of being a trailblazer start from." The ceremony served as a reminder of the struggles and sacrifices made by these remarkable individuals in the fight for equality and justice in the public transportation system.
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