Tears, Applause and Song Greet Freedom Rides Marker

The old bus terminal – with its segregated restrooms and waiting areas – is no longer there.

In its place, a permanent historical marker to commemorate the first stop on the 1961 Freedom Rides was unveiled yesterday afternoon, the result of efforts by University of Mary Washington staff, faculty and students, in partnership with the City of Fredericksburg. Sixty years after the history-making journey – in the presence of an original Freedom Rider and a vintage 1960s bus transported from a Roanoke museum – a diverse crowd mingled at the site and intertwined their voices as they sang “stayed on freedom,” many with tears in their eyes.

The project was spearheaded by Christopher Williams, a friend and mentee of Dr. James L. Farmer Jr., who organized the Freedom Rides to desegregate interstate travel. Farmer later taught at Mary Washington, where Williams is now the assistant director of UMW’s James Farmer Multicultural Center, dedicated to honoring the late civil rights icon’s legacy.

Posing with the historical marker, from left to right, James Farmer Multicultural Center Associate Director JoAnna Raucci and Director Marion Sanford, Freedom Rider Dion Diamond and Assistant Director Christopher Williams. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Onlookers gaze at the banner featuring the mug shots of the original Freedom Riders, including the late Dr. James Farmer (first photo in second row) and the late Rep. John Lewis (fourth photo in third row). Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

A vintage 1960s bus, on loan from a Roanoke museum, parked at the site of the former Fredericksburg bus station where the Freedom Riders stopped. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Freedom Rider Dion Diamond laughs with JFMC Assistant Director Christopher Williams, who spearheaded the historical marker project, which is only the third marker on the Virginia Civil Rights Trail. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

UMW student Sydney Baylor, who helped bring the project to fruition, read aloud the names of the original Freedom Riders, while a bell tolled for each. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

The nearly two-year process culminated on May 4 of this year when the state Department of Historic Resources approved the marker, and a smaller gathering honored the Freedom Rides’ 60th anniversary with the posting of a temporary marker.

To a crowd of more than 100 yesterday, Freedom Rider Dion Diamond, 80, said, “I wasn’t on that bus that came through Fredericksburg.”  A sophomore at Howard University when the sit-ins and Freedom Rides began, he said he just couldn’t stay away from the movement.

“I thought I was leaving for a long weekend,” said Diamond, who ended up spending 30 days in a Mississippi jail cell with Dr. Farmer. “That long weekend [turned into two and a half years and] changed my life.” He never made it back to Howard but later graduated from the University of Wisconsin and Harvard.

Diamond, who now lives in Washington, D.C., said he views the Black Lives Matter movement and recent protests as “evolutionary activity.” The cause behind the Freedom Rides lives on, he added, “just with different approaches.”

Vice Mayor Chuck Frye chats with Freedom Rider Dion Diamond about the historical marker unveiled in Fredericksburg yesterday. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

A picture of Dr. James Farmer was displayed alongside a quote from the late Mary Washington history professor and giant of the civil rights movement. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Assistant Professor of Historic Preservation Christine Henry said the marker is helping to “make a more diverse history visible on the landscape of Fredericksburg.” Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw described the unveiling of the marker as “a transformational event.” Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

James Farmer Multicultural Center Director Marion Sanford (left) and UMW President Troy Paino (center) snap photos at the ceremony to unveil the permanent marker commemorating the first stop of the 1961 Freedom Rides. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

Freedom Rider Dion Diamond speaks to the crowd gathered for the unveiling of the marker, while wearing his mug shot from the Freedom Rides pinned to his shirt. He spent two years participating in the protests to desegregate interstate travel. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

The 13 initial riders, including Dr. Farmer and the late Rep. John Lewis, bravely integrated facilities at each stop, meeting more resistance – even violence and arrests – the deeper into the South they traveled. Their mug shots were posted on a banner, and as UMW student Sydney Baylor – who helped bring the project to fruition – read each name aloud, a bell tolled.

Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw described the unveiling of the marker – across from the Fredericksburg Post Office near the corner of Princess Anne and Wolfe streets – “a transformational event.”

To learn more about the Freedom Rides’ first stop marker project, read “Marker Furthers UMW Mission on Freedom Rides’ 60th Anniversary.”