Alabama Representatives are taking action to prevent the possible sale of the Freedom Rides Museum after it was listed among non-core federal properties.
Alabama’s Freedom Rides Museum could be offloaded as a federal property after it was included in a list of 440 federal properties the Trump administration deemed as “not core to government operations.”
The list was initially published on the General Services Administration (GSA) website but has since been removed as the agency identifies “buildings and facilities that are not core to government operations, or non-core
properties, for disposal,” a message on the website now reads.“Selling ensures that taxpayer dollars are no longer spent on vacant or underutilized federal spaces,” the message continues. “Disposing of these assets helps eliminate costly maintenance and allows us to reinvest in high-quality work environments that support agency missions.”
Two Alabama members of the House of Representatives, Rep. Terri Sewell and Rep. Shomari Figures, sent a letter to the Trump administration on March 5, urging the removal of the museum from the list of potential properties for sale.
“The history of Civil Rights in America and here in Alabama is sacred, and it is not, not for sale,” Sewell told WVTM13.“We stand united in our efforts to make sure that this landmark remains a museum for future generations to learn from, for all of us to remember, because if we don’t know our history, we are bound to repeat our history.”
If the Trump administration moves forward with the sale of the Freedom Rides Museum, it would mean losing a vital piece of American history. Once the Montgomery Greyhound Bus Station, the site played a pivotal role in the Freedom Rides movement.
On May 20, 1961, a racially integrated group of young protestors—many under the age of 22—were met with violence as they stopped there to challenge segregation. The station closed in 1995 and was designated a historic landmark the following year.
As of March 10, it stands as one of over 130 sites on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, yet its future remains uncertain under the Trump administration.
“The chaos from the Trump administration
must stop,” Sewell said. “It is causing unnecessary confusion and panic, and it continues to threaten the civil rights landmarks that we in Alabama cherish and that the world comes to Alabama to observe and learn from.”RELATED CONTENT: Umoja: Early Pan-Africanists Who Paved The Way For This Year’s Kwanzaa Theme