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Claudette Colvin, Civil Rights Pioneer Who Challenged Bus Segregation at 15, Dies at 86

Her family foundation said she died of natural causes in Texas.

Overview

  • Her death was announced by the Claudette Colvin Legacy Foundation, with spokesperson Ashley D. Roseboro confirming the news and saying memorial details will be shared later.
  • Colvin was arrested in Montgomery on March 2, 1955, at age 15 for refusing to give up her bus seat, nine months before Rosa Parks’ protest drew national attention.
  • She served as a named plaintiff in Browder v. Gayle, the 1956 federal case that ended segregated seating on Montgomery’s buses and influenced public transportation nationwide.
  • In 2021, an Alabama judge expunged her 1955 juvenile record, a symbolic step that renewed attention to her contribution to the Civil Rights Movement.
  • Long overlooked compared with Parks, she later received wider recognition, and a feature film about her life titled Spark has been reported as in development.