Ed Blankenheim, one of 13 original freedom riders whose historic bus journey helped to end segregation in the South, died Sept. 26 of lung cancer at his home in San Francisco. He was 70.

May 12 -- Arriving to a hero's welcome, Ed Blankenheim said today ... his bus in Alabama 40 years ago. Blankenheim, 67, one of the original Freedom Riders, rode in a bus caravan today re-creating ...

Ed Blankenheim said he still recalls the hatred on the faces of the men and women who surrounded and burned his bus in Alabama 40 years ago. Blankenheim, 67, one of the original Freedom Riders ...

Ed Blankenheim said he still recalls the hatred on the faces of the men and women who surrounded and burned his bus in Alabama 40 years ago. Blankenheim, 67, one of the original Freedom Riders ...

May 12 -- Riding into Montgomery to a hero'swelcome Saturday, Ed Blankenheim said ... in Alabama 40 years ago. Blankenheim, 67, was one of the original Freedom Riders who rodeacross Alabama ...

On episode four: The Freedom Ride movement almost ... when he remembers his deceased fellow riders. Hank Thomas: The others on the bus with me, Ed Blankenheim, Howard Bigelow, who was a retired ...

Prior to becoming a Freedom Rider, Blankenheim’s experience as a young Marine in North Carolina, where he witnessed segregation and racism, laid the groundwork for his role in the Civil Rights ...

Fifty years ago today on May 4, 1961, the first bus of Freedom Riders, carrying 13 people -- both black and white -- set out from Washington, D.C. for New Orleans. The fight for civil rights ...

Ed Blankenheim said he still recalls the hatred on the faces of the men and women who surrounded and burned his bus in Alabama 40 years ago. Blankenheim, 67, one of the original Freedom Riders ...

Ed Blankenheim said he still recalls the hatred on the faces of the men and women who surrounded and burned his bus in Alabama 40 years ago.Blankenheim, 67, one of the original Freedom Riders ...

Ed Blankenheim said he still recalls the hatred on the faces of the men and women who surrounded and burned his bus in Alabama 40 years ago. Blankenheim, 67, one of the original Freedom Riders ...

At the time he joined the ride, B. Elton Cox was minister living in High Point, North Carolina. Edward Blankenheim was a student at the University of Arizona.