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The Ledger
On this day

May 4th

2 events recorded on The Ledger.

  1. 1961
    The Rise

    Freedom Riders leave Washington

    Thirteen Congress of Racial Equality riders, led by James Farmer, board Greyhound and Trailways buses in Washington, D.C., bound for New Orleans. In Anniston, Alabama, a white mob firebombs the Greyhound bus. In Birmingham, Klansmen beat the Trailways riders with the permission of Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor.

  2. 1994
    The Rise

    Rosewood Compensation Act signed

    Florida Governor Lawton Chiles signs the Rosewood Compensation Act, awarding $2.1 million to survivors and descendants of the Rosewood Massacre. The first state reparations for racial violence in United States history.

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