1. www.postersession.com
Birth and Family
Born March 17, 1912 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, to
Florence Rustin and Archie Hopkins, Bayard Taylor Rustin was
one of the most effective and fearless, though frequently
overlooked, organizers in the civil rights movement.[3] He was
raised by his maternal grandparents whom he believed were his
parents.[3] It was not until Bayard was eleven that he discovered
that Florence Rustin was his mother, not his sister, and that his
“parents” , Janifer Rustin and Julia Rustin, were in fact his
grandparents. Regardless, Janifer and Julia Rustin had a deep
and abiding influence on their grandson who enjoyed a more
comfortable family life than his complicated origins might
seem.[5]
His grandmother Julia Rustin was a Quaker deeply enrooted in
the belief of pacifism and racial equality. This had a lasting
effect on Bayard who remained a Quaker and fought for racial
equality throughout his life. As an active member of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP), Mrs. Rustin hosted leaders such as W.E.B. Du Bois
and James Weldon Johnson when they toured in the West
Chester area as guests in the Rustin home. Having these
Political leaders in his early life influenced the young Rustin to
campaign against racially discriminatory Jim Crow laws.[3]
Accomplishments,
Awards,
and Recognition
Bayard Rustin: Civil Rights Activist
References
became an important strategist in the Civil Rights Movement.
This then lead to him being the chief organizer of the 1963
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
1. Dubofsky, Melvyn. "Rustin, Bayard." American National
Biography Online. and Mark C. Carnes. , John A. GarratyNew
York: Oxford UP, 2008. Oxford African American Studies Center.
n.d. Web 1 Jul 2015.
2. Levine, Daniel. Bayard Rustin And The Civil Rights Movement.
New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2000. eBook
Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 1 July 2015
3. Cook, Charles Orson. "Rustin, Bayard." Encyclopedia of African
American History, 1896 to the Present: From the Age of
Segregation to the Twenty-first Century. Ed. Paul FinkelmanNew
York: Oxford UP, 2008. Oxford African American Studies Center.
n.d. Web 5 July 2015.
4. "[Bayard Rustin, Head-and-shoulders Portrait, Facing Right]." The
Library of Congress. n.d. Web. 5 July 2015.
5. Niven, Steven J.. "Rustin, Bayard Taylor." African American
National Biography. Ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Evelyn Brooks
Higginbotham. New York: Oxford UP, 2008. Oxford African
American Studies Center. n.d. Web. 5 July 2015.
6. "Rustin, Bayard." Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and
African American Experience, Second Edition. Ed. Kwame
Anthony Appiah, Henry Louis Gates Jr.New York: Oxford UP,
2008. Oxford African American Studies Center. n.d. Web. 5 July
2015.
7. Tuttle, Kate. "March on Washington, 1963." Africana: The
Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience,
Second Edition. Ed. Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis
Gates Jr.. New York: Oxford UP, 2008. Oxford African American
Studies Center. n.d. Web. 5 July 2015.
Rustin died on August 24, 1987, of a perforated appendix.
Despite the fact that he played such an important role in the civil
rights movement, Rustin "faded from the shortlist of well-
known civil rights lions," in part because of public discomfort
with his sexual orientation..
LegacyEarly Life
Involvement
Rustin was a leading
activist of the Civil Rights
Movement, helping to
initiate a 1947 Freedom
Ride to challenge the
racial segregation issue
related to interstate busing.
[6] Alongside Martin
Luther King, Jr.'s
leadership, Rustin helped
organize the Southern
Christian Leadership
Conference. By promoting
the philosophy of
nonviolence Rustin
•Accomplishments, Awards and Recognition
•Personal Life
I.Marriage/Family Involvement
II.Children
III.Personal Hobbies
Influence on the Civil
Rights Movement
Most Memorable Achievement(s)
Rustin's involvements in the Fellowship of Reconciliation
(FOR), a radical pacifist movement, lead him to the
establishment of the New York branch of the Congress of
Racial Equality (CORE). Throughout the 1940s and 1950s
he led weekend seminars on nonviolent action for both
groups.[6]Bayard also helped organize the Montgomery Bus
Boycott in 1955, and was involved in the formation of the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).[6]
Posthumous Awards
In 2013, President Barack Obama awarded Rustin a
posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom. This award is
given to individuals who have a made particularly
significant contributions in any variety of endeavors.[5]
Bayard Rustin, 1963. Photograph by
Warren K. Leffler.[1]
Bayard Rustin. Rustin (left) with Eugene Reed at a
news briefing on the civil rights march,
Washington, D.C., 1963. Photograph by Al
Ravenna.[3]
Rustin and Cleveland Robinson of the March on
Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 7,
1963
Rustin speaks with civil rights activists before a demonstration, 1964
Figure 1 Bayard Rustin, head-and-
shoulders portrait, facing right.[4]
Education
As a member of his high school football team while
attending public school, Rustin first challenged racial
segregation when he and a friend demanded to be served
after denied service in a segregated restaurant. He attended
the historically black Wilberforce University and Cheyney
State Teachers College, then in 1937 enrolling in the City
College of New York. Although he never completed a
college degree he became addicted to the New York culture
finding it exhilarating and considered a career in musical
theater.
The March on
Washington served as a
springboard for the 1964
Civil Rights Act and the
1965 Voting Rights Act,
marking the high point of
unity in the civil rights
movement.[5] Rustin
served as the coordinator
of the March on
Washington which had
200,000 people who
attended. Rustin was
arrested twenty-three
times, but he continued to
believe that racial
equality should be
pursued through
nonviolent means.[6]
Rustin 1965
March on Washington