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The Black Army private who wouldn’t move to the back of the bus
Sarah Keys Evans became an unwitting Civil Rights activist when she refused to give up her seat for a white Marine. She was on a bus that had crossed state lines into North Carolina, where in 1952, she was told to move to the back of the bus.
In recent years, her story has become better known, partly thanks to a new book she co-wrote with author Amy Nathan. (This Due South conversation first aired May 27, 2026.)
- You can watch and listen to Sarah Keys Evans speaking with PBS NC for an oral history.
Amy Nathan, co-author with Sarah Keys Evans of Riding into History: The Surprising Story of Sarah Keys Evans and the Fight to Desegregate Bus Travel
Ervin Griffin, one of the Roanoke Rapids educators who installed a monument honoring Sarah Keys Evans, president Emeritus of Halifax Community College…