After her father’s death, her family sold their farm and moved to Macon, Georgia. When she became the WPC's president the following year, she made desegregating the city's buses one of the organization's top priorities.The WPC repeatedly complained to the Montgomery city leaders about unfair seating practices and abusive driver conduct. The WPC members found the mayor and his staff responsive to their request for dialogue on various issues affecting African Americans in Montgomery until the subject of integrating the buses arose. It also established Dr. King as a prominent national figure. She was, however, appointed to the executive board and, at the behest of King, wrote and edited the weekly MIA newsletter. Robinson was especially proud of the role that women played in boycott's success, saying:Women's leadership was no less important to the development of the Montgomery Bus Boycott than was the male and minister-dominated leadership.In a 1976 interview, Robinson pointed out, "That boycott was not supported by a few people; it was supported by 52,000 people.

Robinson took great pride in the eventual success of the boycott. She was an active member of the Montgomery County Republican Women’s Club and an avid bridge player. Bennetts Creek Chapel Phone: (757) 483-4392 2690 Bridge Rd., Suffolk, VA 23435. In February 1956, a local police officer threw a stone through the window of her house. She attended St. Agnes Academy and North Texas State University. https://youtu.be/ghrkDTbZAa0. Born on April 17, 1912, in Culloden, Georgia, Robinson distinguished herself early as the valedictorian of her high school class, went on to become the first person in her family to graduate from college, and then fulfilled her dream of becoming a teacher. Then two weeks later, another police officer poured acid on her car. Montgomery County Archives. With little cooperation from the mayor's office, and few African Americans able to vote in the city, Robinson came to envision a boycott by the city's many African Americans, which would severely affect the bus company's finances and perhaps prompt integration.After Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955, Robinson and others saw their opportunity to take action. She was also active in the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. "After the boycott victory Robinson continued to teach at Alabama State until 1960, when she and other faculty supporters of student sit-ins at the college resigned. Born on April 17, 1912, in Culloden, Georgia, Robinson distinguished herself early as the valedictorian of her high school class, went on to become the first person in her family to graduate from college, and then fulfilled her dream of becoming a teacher.She taught in the Macon, Georgia, public schools for fives years while earning a master's degree from Atlanta University. Interestingly, however, Robinson’s political activities helped to propel King’s career, making it possible for him to become the prominent figure we memorialize each year. The violence was so bad that the governor of Alabama ordered the state police to guard the houses of the boycott leaders. Thereafter, she took up teaching at a public school in Macon.

Born in Georgia in 1912, Robinson became a professor at Alabama State College in Montgomery, Alabama. Her father died when Jo Ann was only 6 years old. An instrumental figure in initiating and sustaining the Montgomery bus boycott, Jo Ann Robinson was an outspoken critic of the treatment of African Americans on public transportation. An instrumental figure in initiating and sustaining the Born on 17 April 1912, in Culloden, Georgia, Robinson was the youngest of 12 children. She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers: Jocefus Robinson Jr., Jeroy Robinson and Sylvester (Mike) Robinson. In 1987, Robinson's memoir, Eventually, Alabama's governor ordered the state police to guard the homes of Robinson and other boycott leaders.The boycott continued until December 20, 1956, when the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregated seating on buses unconstitutional.The Montgomery Bus Boycott was one of the first successful protest of segregation in the Deep South, inspiring other nonviolent civil rights protest. In 1960, when ASC students staged a sit-in at a segregated snack bar downtown, Robinson resigned her position rather than face the continued tensions at the institution, later accepting a position at Grambling College (now Grambling State University) in Grambling, Louisiana. I hope all take pride in helping bring the forgotten stories of unheralded African American heroes into the spotlight, elevating the African American experience to its rightful place at the center of our nation's history!Get the latest information about timed passes and tips for planning your visitSearch the collection and explore our exhibitions, centers, and digital initiativesOnline resources for educators, students, and familiesEngage with us and support the Museum from wherever you are Although not as well-known as Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King, Jr., Jo Ann Robinson (1912-1992) was perhaps the individual most instrumental in planning and publicizing the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, proposing the idea more than a year before it was implemented. She also pursued English studies at Columbia University in New York City. Montgomery County Archives.