Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

involving interracial dynamics and called attention to the importance of reform in the Tallahassee area.
On May 26, 1956, Wilhemina Jakes and Carrie Patterson, two Florida A&M University students, were arrested by the Tallahassee Police Department for "placing themselves in a position to incite a riot." Both Jakes and Pattersin were let out on bonds, but later returned home to crosses burning on their yards that had been placed by members of the Klu Klux Klan. After this incident FAMU students agreed to boycott the Tallahassee bus system and encouraged other African Americans in the Leon County area to do the same. These student-led protests started what is now known as the Tallahassee bus boycotts, which sought to end racial segregation in the employment and seating arrangements of city buses.
Thanks to the leadership of FAMU students and sisters Priscilla and Patricia Stephens Due, Florida A&M's CORE chapter played an active role in several protests across Tallahassee from 1959 to 1964. In November of 1959, …