Irene morgan biography

1917-2007

Civil rights activist

Irene Morgan made history in 1944, when her act of civil disobedience—refusing to relinquish her seat on an interstate bus to a white passenger—became a crucial legal battle in the struggle to end institutionalized segregation.

Irene morgan lasting legacy

Irene Amos Morgan (April 9, 1917–August 10, 2007) left her mother's house in Gloucester County on July 16, 1944, to ride the bus to Baltimore to see her doctor.

Irene morgan civil rights

Born in April, 1917 in Baltimore, Irene Amos attended local schools as well as the Seventh Adventist Church.

Irene Amos Morgan, later known as Irene Morgan Kirkaldy, was an African-American woman from Baltimore, Maryland, who was arrested in Middlesex County, Virginia, in 1944 under a state law imposing racial segregation in public facilities and.

Morgan's case was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court and set a legal precedent that was used in later years to fight against other forms of segregation. Despite the wide-reaching consequences of Morgan's actions, by the 1960s Morgan's case had largely been forgotten.

In the twenty-first century, interest in Morgan's story resurfaced, and she was honored by civil rights organizations and the federal government for her role as a pioneer of the civil rights movement.

Irene Morgan was born on April 9, 1917, in Baltimore, Maryland.

She was the sixth of nine children born to parents who were the children of former slaves. Morgan later described her father as having worked various jobs during the Great Depres