Hank thomas freedom rider biography of martin
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Civil rights activists highlighted in publication had significant ties to St. Augustine
Many of us found the special supplement in The Sunday Record (Nov. 14) about the heroes of the civil rights movement 60 years ago quite moving. Those people, many of them youngsters, taught us lessons in democracy that still resonate, not just here, but around the world. Now that some have passed away, and the rest qualify for Social Security and Medicare, let us not fail to give appropriate thanks.
Two of those highlighted in the supplement have important St. Augustine connections.
Henry “Hank” Thomas, one of the original 13 Freedom Riders, grew up here and attended Excelsior School (now the Lincolnville Museum) and Richard J. Murray High School (now Murray Middle School). He famously conducted a one-man sit-in at the lunch counter of the old McCrory’s store (now a shopping mall) at 158 St. George St., and was bailed out of jail with money provided by Sammy Davis Jr. According to the National Park Service, Thomas “was once sentenced to six months in the Mississippi State Penitentiary for Treason against the state for using a "Whites Only" men’s room in Jackson, Mississippi.”
Now 80, and a prominent Atlanta businessman, he has family still here. Indeed, his mother, Mrs. Tiny R. Heggs,
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Hank Thomas
American civil rights activist and entrepreneur
Hank Thomas | |
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| Born | Henry James Thomas (1941-08-29) August 29, 1941 (age 83) Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Civil rights activist, entrepreneur |
| Children | 2 |
Henry "Hank" James Thomas (born August 29, 1941) is an African American civil rights activist and entrepreneur. Thomas was one of the original 13 Freedom Riders who traveled on Greyhound and Trailways buses through the South in 1961 to protest racial segregation, holding demonstrations at bus stops along the way.[1]
Thomas' role in the Civil Rights Movement continued as he became one of the founders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and participated in multiple Freedom Rides. In 1965, he served in the Vietnam War as a medic. He was injured in battle and subsequently received a Purple Heart.
He is featured in the National Park Service's International Civil Rights Walk of Fame at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.[2]
Early life and education
[edit]Thomas was born August 29, 1941, in Jacksonville, Florida. He learned to read at the age of four from his mother, Tina R. Heggs, who had only a sixth grade education. Never knowing his biological father, Thomas w
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Written by: Tabulation of Aboveboard Institute
By representation end arrive at this splinter, you will:
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