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September 5, 2008 10:36:00 PM CDT

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Rights Activist Carr Dies at 97

Posted Feb 23, 08 4:00 PM CST in Arts & Living,  US 

(Newser) – Johnnie Rebecca Carr, an early leader in the civil rights movement and compatriot of Rosa Parks, has died of a stroke at age 97, the Montgomery Advertiser reports. Carr helped organize the Montgomery Improvement Association in 1955 after Parks made her famous stand on a city bus. The group's yearlong boycott caught the nation's attention. She later served as the group's president and was active with it until her death.

During the boycott, Carr organized carpools for striking riders, reports NPR. In the 1960s, she tested Montgomery’s legal system by enrolling her son in the all-white public school system. Carr had a high profile in the city, encouraging education and tolerance; said the mayor: "Every time I turned around, there's Miss Carr.”

Sources Montgomery Advertiser (Alamaba), NPR

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Carr speaks at Rosa Parks' funeral.   (Getty Images)
Johnnie Carr, a longtime civil rights activist, talks about memorial plans for Rosa Parks during a news conference, in this Oct. 25, 2005 file photo, in Montgomery, Ala. Carr, 97, died Friday night, Feb....   (Associated Press)
Longtime civil right activist Johnnie Carr listens to comments about Rosa Parks and the 50th anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott during a news conference in this Dec. 1, 2005, file photo, in Montgomery,...   (Associated Press)
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race relations  • civil rights  • Martin Luther King Jr.  • boycott  • civil rights movement  • Rosa Parks


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