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Aknowledgements

Itinerary

Afterwords

Get On the Bus 2002: Day 1
Ann Arbor MI to Cincinnati Ohio - 245 Miles

While many of the students at the University of Michigan are looking forward to a week without classes, relaxing at home or on a sunny beach, some students choose to do something else with their spring break. This year's Get On The Bus group is looking forward to the unique opportunity to learn about the Civil Rights movement first-hand - meeting people and seeing places we have spent our semester studying in class.

Today was the first day of the trip. We left Ann Arbor at 5:00 PM, and drove to Cincinnati Ohio, where we plan to meet with the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth tomorrow at 10AM before driving to Memphis, Tennessee. Below are a few pictures of the first day of the trip.

Rosa getting into the packing process.

We had a little trouble getting everything to fit.


But in the end, we were on our way!

Spirits were high in the white van!


After our day of driving, the group plans our meeting of Reverend Fred Shuttlesfield.

See our itinerary

Read an excerpt Alyson Scott's journal entry:

. . . We are in the hotel right now on the first night of our trip. The group (well, the girls anyway) were going to have a dance party but everyone is so wiped out from traveling that we are going to save our energy for tomorrow night in Memphis. (That should be interesting ... we are going to get together with Tyler's friend Chris who goes to UM but is from Memphis. He is going to take us out on the town.) Tomorrow AM we are going to meet with the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, who we thought was the reverend of the 16th Street Baptist Church when the four little girls were killed. Luckily, we figured out before we made fools of ourselves that he wasn't really. But he was an important figure in the movement and had Bull Connor as his arch-nemesis. I am excited, but a little scared about appearing ignorant/dorky in front of this amazing person. Then we are making the 400 mile drive to Memphis.
I am psyched to be here, I think the group is really cool. Even people I didn't initially take to are growing on me. I expect to make some great new friends, lasting memories, and learn an enormous amount. Hooray for GOTB 2002!


Excerpt from Sarah Leonard's journal:

Our van stopped for lunch at a Waffle House in Brooks, Kentucky, outside of Louisville. I had cheese eggs, raisin toast, bacon, and hash browns. It was decent and cheap, but so not on my health diet. Definitely a heart attack waiting to happen. No lie, there was a tablespoon (at least) of oil/grease on the bacon plate after I had finished. It was the rawest, greasiest bacon I have ever eaten (or rather picked apart). The raisin toast and hash browns were awesome though. We took pictures at the lunch counter (symbolizing the sit-ins). We were half being dumb tourists, but I was sitting next to Rosa and we really couldn't have done that thirty-five years ago.
We represent progress. Shuttlesworth said that things are still bad, that there is still racism and there are unfair laws and segregation, but the fact is that even though things aren't perfect, they are better. My experiences are so much better (as far as integration) than my parents', and my children's' will be better than mine. And as dumb as it sounds, a little Waffle House off the highway in Brooks, Kentucky, is proof that the Civil Rights movement effected an important and monumental change in dining experiences.