I am an editor, translator, and scholar living in Florence, Massachusetts. My interest in civil rights began in the 1960s, when I worked on integration projects in Virginia. In March 1965, I took part in the Selma to Montgomery March and had the privilege to be near the front of the crowd as, among others, Rosa Parks and John Lewis spoke and Dr. King delivered his moving and powerful “How Long? Not Long!” speech.

Many years later I became the managing executive editor of the African American National Biography project at Harvard University’s W. E. B. Dubois Research Institute. In 2008, AANB appeared in print with over 4,000 biographies of noteworthy African Americans; 1,500 more were added in a second edition. My interest in Jim Crow on buses, trains, and other modes of travel was piqued at AANB as I encountered the stories of about a dozen people who had been harassed, beaten, and arrested while they were traveling. After leaving AANB, I continued further research. Learning more names and exploring more deeply the prejudice, indignities, and palpable danger that Black passengers encountered every day, it soon became clear that resistance to racism in transportation has a deeper history and greater importance than I had been taught. Indeed, this resistance forms a long, unbroken strand of protest that stretches over two hundred years, shaping our national history along the way. And I knew that others would be interested to learn about these events. The result is Protesting with Rosa Parks.

I have been encouraged and inspired to continue this work by daily reminders around my home: David Ruggles, an early proponent of nonviolent civil disobedience, lived right down the road here in Florence, as did Sojourner Truth, whose house I can see from my living room window, and Basil Dorsey lies buried just down the block.

Information about my work in Medieval Welsh Literature and History and as a lexicographer can be found at johnbollard.com.