Claudette Colvin, Civil Rights Pioneer, Has Passed
Her actions helped change the course of American history.
“Her legacy challenges us to tell the full truth of our history and to honor every voice that helped bend the arc toward justice.” ~ Steven Reed, Mayor, Montgomery, Alabama
Claudette Colvin, a civil rights pioneer whose defiance of bus segregation helped ignite the movement in Montgomery, Alabama, has died. She was 86.
Colvin died January 13, 2026, of natural causes in Texas, according to her family’s foundation.
Colvin was just 15 years old in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated Montgomery bus, nine months before Rosa Parks’ more widely known protest. She was arrested, handcuffed, and jailed for violating Jim Crow laws, an experience she later said left her traumatized but resolute.
Her case became a key early example of resistance to segregation and helped galvanize Black residents and local leaders. Colvin later served as one of four plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, the federal lawsuit that led the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that bus segregation was unconstitutional, effectively ending the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Claudette Colvin: The Original Rosa Parks
For decades, Colvin’s role was largely overlooked, in part because of her age and personal circumstances at the time of her arrest. In recent years, historians and civil rights advocates have increasingly recognized her courage and contributions to the movement.
Following her death, civil rights leaders and organizations praised Colvin as a trailblazer whose actions helped change the course of American history.
