10
LIZZIE JENNINGS GETS ON THE BUS
On July 16, 1854, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Jennings (1830-1901), a 24-year-old schoolteacher setting out to
fulfill her duties as organist at the First Colored Congregational Church on Sixth Street and Second
Avenue, fatefully waited for the bus on the corner of Pearl and Chatham. Getting around 1854 New
York City often involved paying a fare to board a large horse-drawn carriage… the forerunner to
today's behemoth motorized buses. For black New Yorkers like Jennings, it wasn't that simple.
Pre-Civil War Manhattan may have been home to the nation's largest African-American
population and New York's black residents may have paid taxes and owned property, but riding
the bus with whites, well, that was a different story. Some buses bore large “Colored Persons
Allowed” signs, while all other buses — those without the sign — were governed by a rather
arbitrary system of passenger choice.
“Drivers determined who could ride,” journalist Jasmin K. Williams explains, adding that NYC bus
drivers “carried whips to keep undesirable passengers off.” This unfortunate arrangement was the
focus of a burgeoning movement for public transportation equality with Rev. J.W.C. Pennington of
the First Colored Congregational Church (where Jennings just so happened to play the organ)
fulfill her duties as organist at the First Colored Congregational Church on Sixth Street and Second
Avenue, fatefully waited for the bus on the corner of Pearl and Chatham. Getting around 1854 New
York City often involved paying a fare to board a large horse-drawn carriage… the forerunner to
today's behemoth motorized buses. For black New Yorkers like Jennings, it wasn't that simple.
Pre-Civil War Manhattan may have been home to the nation's largest African-American
population and New York's black residents may have paid taxes and owned property, but riding
the bus with whites, well, that was a different story. Some buses bore large “Colored Persons
Allowed” signs, while all other buses — those without the sign — were governed by a rather
arbitrary system of passenger choice.
“Drivers determined who could ride,” journalist Jasmin K. Williams explains, adding that NYC bus
drivers “carried whips to keep undesirable passengers off.” This unfortunate arrangement was the
focus of a burgeoning movement for public transportation equality with Rev. J.W.C. Pennington of
the First Colored Congregational Church (where Jennings just so happened to play the organ)
playing a major role.
Against such a volatile backdrop, Lizzie
Jennings opted for a bus without the
“Colored Persons Allowed” sign. The
Jennings opted for a bus without the
“Colored Persons Allowed” sign. The
37
… YOU'RE NOT
SUPPOSED TO KNOW
SUPPOSED TO KNOW