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The NC woman who refused to go to the back of the bus: Monument in Roanoke Rapids honors civil rights activist

A 1946 Supreme Court ruling mandated passenger segregation was illegal, but when the bus stopped in Roanoke Rapids, Sarah Keys received an unpleasant welcome to the South.

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By
Richard Adkins
, WRAL photojournalist

Sixty-eight years ago, North Carolina native Sarah Keys earned her first leave while in the U.S. Army Women's Army Corps. Keys boarded a bus headed from Trenton, N.J., to Washington, N.C.

Dressed in her military uniform, Keys settled into a seat midway in the bus.

A 1946 Supreme Court ruling had made mandated passenger segregation illegal, but when the bus stopped in Roanoke Rapids, Keys received an unpleasant welcome to the South.

“When the bus driver collected the stub of everyone seated, when he got to me, he said, 'I want you to get up and go to the rear of the bus.'” recounted Keys to the Eastern Carolina College & Seminary in an interview earlier this year.

“She understood the law,” says Dr. Charles McCollum, “Knowing if she boarded the bus in the northern part of the country, that she could keep her seat all the way through.”

Keys stood her ground that evening. “I told him I was comfortable seated where I was,” she said.

Later, Keys was arrested.

McCollum, the chancellor of Eastern Carolina College & Seminary, leads an effort creating a tribute to Keys in Roanoke Rapids Martin Luther King Jr. Park.

“It mattered back then, and it had far reaching affects,” McCollum said.

Keys filed a lawsuit against Carolina Coach Company.

McCollum says that lawsuit was pivotal in shaping civil rights law.

“Her story needs to be told. She needs to come out of the shadows," he said.

Now, 68 years later, a monument has been erected in Roanoke Rapids to remember the brave act.

On Saturday, the landmark will be dedicated. Keys will joining that ceremony virtually from her home in New York.

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