When a group of civil rights activists traveled down the country from Washington, D.C . in 1961, they were unaware of the impact they would have in the ongoing battle for equality. This past Wednesday, the Office for Institutional Equity & Diversity provided students with the opportunity to learn more about what the Freedom Riders accomplished a half-century ago.

Portraits of the 1961 Freedom Riders, part of the Dialogue on Diversity program, took place in the Witherspoon Student Center, and gave two speakers a chance to share their experiences learning about the historic group.

Eric Etheridge, author of Breach of Peace: Portraits of the 1961 Freedom Riders, was the first to speak. Etheridge spent four years working on his book, a visual record of the Freedom Riders, the challenges they faced, and the change they helped bring about.

Etheridge explained how following the bus boycotts and sit-ins, the Freedom Riders made up the third major campaign of the Civil Rights Movement. A group of both black and white individuals rode two buses from Washington, D.C . with the goal of reaching New Orleans. The ride was developed in order to test an earlier Supreme Court ruling that banned racial discrimination in interstate travel.

Upon arrival to Alabama, a great deal of violence met the riders, with numerous attacks in Anniston and Montgomery. Finally, in Jackson, the group was arrested on charges of breach of peace.

The rising tension as the Freedom Riders traveled through Alabama gained national attention, and many urged the group to abandon the project, Etheridge explained.

“We celebrate the Riders today,” Etheridge said, “but at the time, nobody was on their side, even the civil rights groups.”

However, upon the group’s arrest, Jackson, Al., became the focus of a new non-violent protest movement. Riders flocked to the city, boosting the arrest numbers and causing local jails to overflow. As a result, federal authorities were forced to enforce federal laws on desegregation in the south, in order to end the incident.

Etheridge said this outcome was another major step forward for the Civil Rights Movement.

“It showed non-violence was a solution against violence [used] to keep African Americans down,” Etheridge said. “It was a way forward.”

The numerous arrests led to a plethora of mug shots; it was these images that became a major basis of Etheridge’s book.

“I was captivated by these images,” Etheridge said, “and wanted to bring them to a larger audience.”

After the four years spent working on the project, Etheridge was able to provide a collection filled with the mug shots, as well as interviews and current photos of about 100 Riders.

The second speaker, Doo’a Dorgham , a senior in psychology, was also given the chance to meet and talk with Riders still alive today. Dorgham spoke about her experience on the 2011 Student Freedom rides, which gave 40 college students from across the nation the chance to travel the same route as the original Freedom Riders, some of whom were also a part of this trip.

Dorgham found the opportunity to be around the Civil Rights icons an honor.

“I was so overwhelmed with the original riders and how humble they were,” Dorgham said. “To be in the presence of people who dedicated their lives so we could sit together was very humbling for me.”

Dorgham’s presentation of the 2011 Student Freedom rides provided an insight into how the Riders look back on their time in the movement, as well as a look at the activities the 40 students were able to participate in alongside the Riders.

“It was a very emotional experience to be with [the original riders],” Dorgham said.

The event closed with a question and answer session with the speakers, and Dorgham expressed her desire to see more students work to make equality a constant on campus.

“If we want to call ourselves a Wolfpack family,” Dorgham said, “when any one of us feels [oppressed], it’s our obligation to come together.”