Here's a little piece of nearly forgotten history, the civil rights case of Elizabeth Jennings, which just like Rosa Parks involved a bus company.



The difference between the two is that Jennings' ordeal took place in New York during 1854, seven years before the Civil War was fought, and a little more than a century before Rosa Parks took her fateful ride.

The "bus" involved was actually an extended horse carriage run by the Third Avenue Railway Company. Some of the busses allowed colored passangers and others were strictly segregated.

Jennings, of course, chose to board a segregated bus and the conductor quickly tried to shoo her by saying the bus was full, a blatant lie that Jennings pointed out. The conductor then told her that her presence was upsetting the other passengers. Jennings persisted so the conductor tried to remove her physically. Apparently she was a match for the man because he failed and only succeeded in drawing a crowd. She was only removed after a policeman was drawn to the scene and he had a turn at dragging her out of the bus.

The daughter of a prominent black businessman, they quickly sought out a lawyer to represent Lizzie in a lawsuit against the Third Avenue Railway Company. The lawyer's identity is one of the most remarkable points in the story. It was Chester A. Arthur, the 21st President.

Keep in mind that this was in 1854, and while slavery was no longer legal in the northern states, there was plenty of racism. In the racially and socially charged Draft Riots of 1861, her son was killed.

Jennings won the case and the Third Avenue Railway Company was forced to pay court costs and damages amounting to $247.50. The company desegregated their carriages and within five years the city was completely free of segregated carriages.

The reason this case was mostly forgotten is because after Jennings won the case, and the carriages were desegregated, everyone must have considered the issue resolved. The defiance of Rosa Parks in Alabama, on the other hand was used as a spark to expand the civil rights movement.

Still, an 1854 civil rights case like this, while slavery was still legal in the south, along with the involvement of a futue president, should be better known in American history.