Reverse Freedom Riders

Lela Mae Williams, 36, of Huttig, Ark., with her two daughters Shirley, 12, and Joyce, 9, arrive at Hyannis, Mass., May 23, 1962 along with seven sons. Mrs. Williams said she had been told she would find work in Hyannis as a domestic, babysitter or laundress.

Lela Mae Williams, 36, of Huttig, Ark., and seven of her nine children on arrival in Hyannis, Mass., May 23, 1962. Mrs. Williams said she had been told she would find work in Hyannis as a domestic, babysitter, or laundress, and be able to support her seven sons and two daughters.

Two unidentified women, residents of Hyannis, Mass., help some of the nine children of Lela Mae Williams (not in photo) off the bus, June 8, 1962 at Hyannis on their arrival from Huttig, Arkansas. The residents are trying to make the newcomers feel at home. They consider the travellers as pawns in White Citizens Councils' efforts to embarrass President Kennedy and his family, who summer in Hyannis.

Victoria Bell, wearing glasses, holding infant, is greeted by Selectman E. Thomas Murphy on arrival from Little Rock., Ark, with her eleven children, May 22, 1962 in Hyannis, Mass. The trip for the family was sponsored by a white segregation group in Little Rock.

Eliza Davis of Cuba, Ala., and her eight children ranging in age from 5 to 17, weary and tired on their arrival in Hyannis, Mass. from the south, June 1, 1962.

Three "Reverse Freedom Riders" left New Orleans for Concord, NH, on one-way bus tickets bought by the New Orleans Citizens Council. They are shown with Citizens Council director George Singlemann, right, July 20, 1962 in New Orleans. The reverse Freedom Riders are, from left, Eddie Rose, Almer Payton and Willie Ramsey.