[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 18 (Monday, February 1, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H421]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING JULIA AARON HUMBLES

  (Mr. RICHMOND asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RICHMOND. Mr. Speaker, I just want to take a second to recognize 
a civil rights hero and New Orleans native who recently passed away: 
Julia Aaron Humbles.
  An active participant in the civil rights movement from an early age, 
she was selected to be on the first Freedom Ride bus at the age of 18, 
which was ultimately firebombed outside Anniston, Alabama.
  She wasn't on that bus. She was, in fact, in Orleans Parish prison 
because she was arrested for picketing outside a segregated Woolworth's 
department store.
  Julia was constantly testing the rules of segregation in New Orleans. 
She is quoted as saying: I was the kind of kid that would move up the 
colored sign on the buses. I would use the White restroom or water 
fountain. If I got caught, I would say flippantly that I just wanted to 
taste that White water, and then I would run.
  Julia passed away on January 26 in Stone Mountain, Georgia, of 
cancer. She was 72 years old. Our country is a much better place 
because of the sacrifices Julia made during her lifetime. Our 
sympathies and prayers are with her family today.

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