May 19, 2013
ANNISTON, Ala. (AP) -- Crews broke ground on a park aimed at illustrating the violence as well as the hope embodied following a 1961 attack on civil rights workers.
The groundbreaking was held Thursday at Freedom Riders Park in the Anniston area.
The park commemorates a brutal attack on civil rights activists 51 years ago and the progress made since then.
A mob attacked a bus carrying civil rights activists known as Freedom Riders just outside Anniston on May 14, 1961 as they were traveling to test a Supreme Court decision desegregating travel stops. The attack didn't discourage integration as the mob intended, but rather firmed up resolve to enforce the Supreme Court rulings throughout the South.
