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An Evening With a Freedom Rider: Charles Person

Talk/Lecture
Great Hall Virtual
FREE
This event has passed
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art will be closed Monday, May 13, to prepare for the visit of Antiques Roadshow. We will return to normal hours of operation Wednesday, May 15.

Seating in the Great Hall is sold out. Check back February 20 to watch via livestream, or sign up to receive reminders in your inbox.

 

We invite you to join us as we welcome a living legend to Crystal Bridges: Freedom Rider and activist Charles Person.

An author and Marine Corps veteran, Charles Person was one of the original 13 Freedom Riders who set out on May 4, 1961, to protest segregation and discrimination against Black Americans in the South. The youngest rider to participate that day, 18-year-old Charles Person made a decision that would shape America and the civil rights movement as we know it. Charles joins us in Northwest Arkansas to discuss the impact and story of that ride, as captured in his 2021 book Buses Are a Comin’: Memoir of a Freedom Rider.

The event will be held in-person with limited seating and via livestream, with a Q&A session and book signing to follow. (Update: In-person seating is sold out.) Books are available for pre-order through the Museum Store and will be ready for pick-up at the event.

We hope you’ll join us for this fascinating evening with one of the last surviving Freedom Riders.

Headshot of original Freedom Rider Charles Person

Keep an eye on this page to watch the event via livestream on February 20.
The stream will begin 15-20 minutes before the scheduled start of the event. Please allow for small delays as we work to provide the best virtual experience possible.

Per the CDC’s updated guidelines, we are now requiring all guests ages 2 and up and staff to wear a face covering indoors and while attending outdoor programs, except while eating or drinking. Masks will be available upon entry for those who do not have one.

Presented in partnership with John Brown University   Primary Stacked Logo