Throughout the summer of 1961, more than 400 black and white young Americans traveled together on buses and trains throughout the Deep South, deliberately violating Jim Crow laws in an effort to overturn them. Led by Diane Nash, the Freedom Riders were a non-violent catalyst for major strides in the civil rights movement. At a White House screening of Stanley Nelson’s award winning film, Freedom Riders, Freedom Rider Diane Nash, author Ray Arsenault, John Seigenthaler, former assistant to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and DC area Freedom Riders discussed their experiences and the legal issues involved. After the screening and panel, students attended a reception featuring remarks from NEH Chairman Jim Leach and Tom Susman of the American Bar Association.
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