Overview
- The Claudette Colvin Legacy Foundation reported her death at age 86, with coverage noting she died in Texas.
- On March 2, 1955, she refused to surrender her seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama, leading to her arrest under segregation laws.
- About a year later she was one of four plaintiffs in the case that led to a U.S. Supreme Court order ending racial separation on Montgomery buses.
- Her action preceded Rosa Parks’ protest by nine months, and her courtroom testimony was described as decisive in challenging the bus laws.
- Her contribution gained broader recognition after a 2009 book documented her story and a 2021 ruling expunged her juvenile conviction.