Members of 1961 Freedom Ride welcomed to New Orleans 65 years later

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - With a brass band and dancing Zulu members, a handful of civil rights icons from the 1961 Freedom Ridge were welcomed onto Xavier University of Louisiana’s campus 65 years after the initial trip.

Back then, the group of young students took a bus from Washington D.C. through the Deep South as a way to test discriminations laws and Jim Crow policies. But the ride stopped in Alabama after violent, racial protests, instead of making it to New Orleans, the final destination.

Wednesday evening, five riders got the homecoming they were hoping for 65 years ago after a two-week bus ride down the same routes and through the same towns as 1961.

“It’s been quiet an expansive trip. I really enjoyed it,” Freedom Rider Kredelle Petway-Philips said.

“It feels very gratifying... It’s about time,” Freedom Rider Stephen Thomas said.

The five freedom riders took the 2026 trip with a total of 67 people; some were relatives of the original Freedom Riders, while others were community and faith leaders.

Among the groups that helped organize the ride were Vote Common Good, Greater Things, Faith Out Loud, Americans United and Red Letter Christians.

The trip made stops at various historical markers, churches and HBCUs along the way in an effort to see and celebrate the progress made since the Civil Rights Era and promote voting rights ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

“It’s been quite heartwarming to see the difference and experience it firsthand,” Petway-Philips said.

“A third of the population was totally unrepresented and therefore abused largely...discriminated against,” Thomas said.

The 2026’s main goal was to continue the fight for advocacy that was started in the Civil Rights Era, and that included speaking with college students and young people along the journey.

The bus even made a stop at the TEP Center on St. Claude Avenue, a museum/community center that was founded at the former McDonogh 19, which was desegregated by a group of elementary school students. Among those students is Leona Tate, who founded the TEP Center back in 2022.

Bus riders got a brief chance to meet Tate and speak on their joint mission to educate people about the Civil Rights Era.

“It’s awesome to hear those stories, and I really think youngsters need to hear those stories,” Tate said.

Tate said having living, breathing stewards of history goes a long way for the next generation and many Xavier students felt that impact after hearing, seeing and second lining with Freedom Riders.

“For us as young individuals, we wouldn’t be here without people like this,” sophomore Kailin Cunningham said.

“It definitely lets me know that there is work to be done, and I’m going to be apart of the history makers,” senior Victoria Akins said.

“This is amazing to see. It’s inspiring. We are truly our ancestors’ greatest prize,” junior Cameron Camp said.

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