Five decades after the Freedom Riders put their lives on the line for equal rights, LIFE.com presents rare photos from that heady era.

On Mother's Day in 1961, a Greyhound bus carrying Freedom Riders was ambushed in Anniston, Alabama. The image of the Greyhound bus in flames was an image printed in papers across the United States ...

See more photos of the Freedom Riders as well as related LIFE galleries on Martin Luther King's involvement with the Riders, the day he died, and the women of the civil rights movement at LIFE.com.

A collection of photographs from the 1961 firebombing of a Freedom Riders bus is on display at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, marking Black History Month.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the first "Freedom Ride" — a test of anti-discrimination laws in the south.

Freedom Riders faced a mob at this bus station. DOGE wanted to sell it. The landmark site in Montgomery, Alabama, was deemed “not core to government operations,” and other stops in U.S. civil ...

Professional Bull Riders team Florida Freedom win in Sunrise debut at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday, August 5, 2024.

Young adults in New Orleans played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, including the Freedom RIdes.

Freedom Riders The Cold War President John F. Kennedy in the Oval Office with his brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Credit: Art Rickerby/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images ...

The 2024 Let Freedom Ring Parade Saturday, celebrating the 4th of July in Sykesville. Tim Helisten gets a boost up for a good view of the Let Freedom Ring parade in Sykesville.(Thomas Walker ...

'Roc Freedom Riders' announced its new plan as a non-profit organization through community activism - the group will further its mission in three key areas: healthy living, racial equality, and ...

The Freedom Riders History In the spring of 1961, black and white civil rights activists rode buses to protest the segregationist policies of the Deep South (Marian Holmes, Brian Wolly, Photos ...