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Freedom Riders attacked in Alabama, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park, 1961.

Fifty-three years ago today, a group of Freedom Riders risked their life to end segregation in America. Their bus entered Anniston, Alabama on Mother's Day in 1961 where they were met by a frenzied KKK mob intent on gruesome murder. The bus driver tried to drive through as armed Ku Klux Klan members attacked his vehicle but was forced to stop by the onslaught. Once stopped, the bigoted klan members threw a firebomb onto the bus and blocked the exit doors while the vehicle burned. The day could've ended in the death of many freedom fighters. Luckily, the gas tank exploded and scared away klan members and a courageous police officer used armed force to protect the men and women escaping from the burning bus. Today is the day to celebrate the bravery of these heroic men and women who made our country a better place!

U.S. National Park Service

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Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park, Code: HATU

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Title: Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument
URL: https://www.facebook.com/HarrietTubmanNPS/?fref=ts

20140514

05/14/1961

Organization: Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument
Address: 2145 Key Wallace Drive, Cambridge, MD 21613

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