Loki Mulholland - She Stood for Freedom: The Untold Story of a Civil Rights Hero, Joan Trumpauer Mulholland

All photographs and documents courtesy of the Mulholland family, except where noted.

Photograph courtesy of Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI). Used by permission.

Photograph courtesy of Fred Blackwell. Used by permission.

Photograph Zack Frank/Shutterstock.com.

2016 The Joan Trumpauer Mulholland Foundation

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, Shadow Mountain, at permissions@shadowmountain.com. The views expressed herein are the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of Shadow Mountain.

Visit us at ShadowMountain.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Mulholland, Loki, author. | Janssen, Charlotta, illustrator.

Title: She stood for freedom : the untold story of a civil rights hero, Joan Trumpauer Mulholland / Loki Mulholland ; Illustrated by Charlotta Janssen.

Description: Salt Lake City, Utah : Shadow Mountain, [2016] | ?2016

Identifiers: LCCN 2016000738 | ISBN 9781629721774 (hardbound : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Mulholland, Joan Trumpauer, 1941 | Civil rights workersUnited States Biography. | LCGFT: Biographies.

Classification: LCC E748.M84 M85 2016 | DDC 323.092dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016000738

Printed in China3/2016

RR Donnelley, Shenzhen China

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To John, Memphis, Annie, Ed, Hank, Luvaghn, Dion, Reggie, Joyce, Dorie, Stokely, Ruby, Jerry, and Medgar.

Loki Mulholland

Above all else, remember Medgar.

Joan Trumpauer Mulholland

Praise for She Stood for Freedom

She Stood for Freedom tells the story of Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, an ardent, devoted fighter for the cause of equal justice. The desire she had to right the wrongs of her country took her from a college campus to downtown street demonstrations and then to jail. She truly deserves the descriptor foot soldier having lived the life of one while standing for freedom in the only way she knew she could. The book is a testament to both Joan and the many other unknown individuals who worked so hard to accomplish so much.

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

This readable, fast-paced narrative illustrates why a young white woman would feel compelled to join the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. It was simple, actually: she was a Southerner, a Christian, an American and it was the right thing to do.

William Pretzer, Curator, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, One day, the South will recognize its heroes. Joan Trumpauer Mulholland is one of those heroes. You cannot tell the story of Americas Civil Rights Movement without talking about the sit-ins, the Freedom Rides, the March on Washington, the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Freedom Summer, and the Selma to Montgomery march. How amazing in this book to tell all those stories through the life of one womanJoan Trumpauer Mulholland, whose uncommon courage and unflinching perseverance continue to inspire us all.

Jerry Mitchell, winner of more than 20 national journalism awards for his reporting on the Civil Rights Movement

A wonderfully written book about a wonderful, worthy hero. An individual who I greatly admire.

Hank Thomas, Civil Rights activist, one of the original Freedom Riders, one of the founders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

She Stood for Freedom will help young people understand that ordinary people like Joan Trumpauer Mulholland were as important to the successes gained during the Civil Rights Movement as better known players like Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Her story also illustrates that you are never too young to do the right thing. This book will help young people better understand how they too can be heroes and stand up for justice and equality for all people.

Terri Lee Freeman, President, National Civil Rights Museum

It was my privilege to meet Joan Trumpauer Mulholland in 1961 when she helped the nonviolent, civil rights activists prepare for their risky, interracial bus ride from Washington, DC, to the heart of the deep South.... This well-written and beautifully illustrated book is one to be savored and shared with future generations who may need to look within themselves for similar courage.

Simeon Booker, award-winning journalist and author of Shocking the Conscience: A Reporters Account of the Civil Rights Movement

Introduction

I was born in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1945. I grew up in a period of great uncertainty for black people. The lynchings, beatings, and intimidation were all too prevalent. I was eleven years old when Emmett Till was killed. I had learned to not like or trust white people.

In June 1961, the Freedom Rides reached Jackson. I met some white people who not only came down that summer but stayed. Thats when I met Joan.

It was a friendship that broke all the rules. Here was this Southern white woman committed to my freedom. How was I to trust her? I knew that any minute she would be gone. I knew that when her people got after her, she would sell us down the river. Instead, she made it clear that she was around to stay. I watched her risk her life to live by the principles in which she believed. I felt her take on an unjust system. I felt her embrace the struggle and not give ground to anyone, black or white, who did not have the courage to stand upa courage I sometimes borrowed.

I would later learn that she had given up her family and friends to live as she thought she should. She knew this and yet she fought.

I came to understand that she never thought of it as my struggle. It belonged to every person of conscience.

As you read her story embrace her as I have. We are her family.

Luvaghn Brown, Freedom Rider

Early Life for Joan

Ten-year-old Joan was hot and thirsty as she looked out the backseat window. In 1952, cars didnt have air conditioners. The drive from Virginia to Georgia was a long summer trip through the South on U.S. Route 1. Summer was her favorite time of year because she got to visit her Grandma Chandler, her cousins, and her friend Mary. Her grandmothers house, like many in Oconee, was simple. Even though there was running water in the house, it was still best to get drinking water from the well down the dirt road, because sometimes a little fish would make it through the pipes and into your glass.

Life in the South

Joan grew up in Arlington, Virginia, at a time when there was a lot of discrimination and hatred against blacks. They werent allowed to eat at the same lunch counter, sit in the same part of the bus, or go to the same school as white people. Segregated bathrooms at gas stations and stores were part of everyday life. It was even against the law for whites and blacks to worship together. That was life in the South.

In church, Joan was taught that God loved all of His children (no matter the color of their skin) and that we should treat each other the way we wanted to be treated. In school, Joans class stood at attention to sing Dixie, and she memorized the Declaration of Independence, which says All men are created equal.