13 Facts About Bruce Boynton

Bruce Carver Boynton was an American civil rights leader who inspired the Freedom Riders movement and advanced the cause of racial equality by a landmark supreme court case Boynton v Virginia.

Bruce Boynton's parents were civil rights activists, known in their community as Mr and Mrs Civil Rights, because of their participation in events like the Bloody Sunday march of 1965.

In 1958, Boynton ordered a cheeseburger while sitting in a whites only part of a restaurant at a bus station in Richmond, Virginia.

Bruce Boynton was arrested for trespassing after he refused to leave the restaurant and spent one night in jail.

Bruce Boynton was a law student at Howard University at the time, and decided to fight his arrest in court.

Bruce Boynton lost his case, but decided to appeal, until finally his case reached the US Supreme Court.

Bruce Boynton's case, known as Boynton v Virginia, was argued by Thurgood Marshall, who later became a justice of the Supreme Court.

The court overturned Bruce Boynton's conviction, affirming that racial segregation in public transportation was illegal.

Bruce Boynton's actions inspired the Freedom Rides in 1961, where activists rode interstate buses through the Southern United States to protest segregated bus terminals.

Bruce Boynton was forced to move to Chattanooga, Tennessee to practice law until Alabama granted him a license in 1965.

Bruce Boynton worked as a civil rights attorney for most of his career until he retired.

Bruce Boynton died on November 23,2020, at the age of 83, two weeks before the 60th anniversary of his landmark case.

Bruce Boynton's death was announced by former Alabama State Senator Henry Sanders.