Aurelia Shines Browder Coleman (January 29,
1919-February 4, 1971) was an
African
American civil rights activist. In April 1955, months before the historic
arrest of
Rosa Parks, she was arrested
for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white rider. She was the
lead plaintiff in the
Browder v.
Gayle action lawsuit.
The case eventually
made its way to the United States Supreme Court
, which found that bus segregation was
unconstitutional.
At the time of the lawsuit, she was a housewife, but Browder had
several careers throughout her life including that of a nurse
mid-wife, seamstress, and business woman.
She was an educated
woman who earned a bachelor's degree in science with honors from
Alabama State
University
.
Browder was affiliated with several of the civil rights groups of
the era, including the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (
NAACP), the
Montgomery Improvement
Association, and the
Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC).
Her son Butler Browder has continued to live in Montgomery,
Alabama.
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