[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 22 (Monday, February 8, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E127]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF MRS. JULIA AARON HUMBLES

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CEDRIC L. RICHMOND

                              of louisiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, February 8, 2016

  Mr. RICHMOND. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Julia 
Aaron Humbles, a New Orleans native and a lifelong civil rights 
activist. Mrs. Humbles passed away on January 26, 2016, at the age of 
72.
   In the 1960's, Mrs. Humbles was among a group of young activists 
from New Orleans that organized sit-ins, and challenged unjust laws on 
buses traveling across the Deep South. Mrs. Humbles and her companions 
were arrested more than 30 times for their civil rights work.
   In 1961, Mrs. Humbles received national attention because of a photo 
of her and fellow activist David Dennis sitting on the front seat of a 
bus next to a soldier armed with a rifle and bayonet. Soldiers had been 
ordered to protect the Freedom Riders as they rode across the Deep 
South, determined to desegregate bus stations.
   By the age of 18, Mrs. Humbles was already very active in the New 
Orleans chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and was 
selected to be on the first Freedom Ride bus.
   Two New Orleanians, Mrs. Humbles and Jerome Smith, were selected for 
the first Freedom Ride bus, which ultimately was firebombed outside 
Anniston, Alabama. Fortunately, the two were not on that bus; they were 
in Orleans Parish Prison for picketing outside the segregated Woolworth 
stores on Canal Street.
   Mrs. Humbles graduated from the Charity Hospital School of Surgical 
Technology in New Orleans and worked as a surgical technician for 30 
years. In 1988, after the death of her husband, Joseph Lee Humbles Sr., 
she moved to Atlanta for a job at Northside Hospital.
   Mrs. Humbles' legacy will forever be a part of the city and her 
dedication to justice embodies the spirit of New Orleans. Stories like 
hers will inspire generations of Americans to fight for their dreams. 
She will be sorely missed by her family, her friends, and all those who 
are able to pursue their dreams because of her courage.
   Mr. Speaker, as a beneficiary of Mrs. Humbles courage, commitment 
and sacrifice, I celebrate her life and legacy, because she has made 
America a more perfect union. With that, I yield back the balance of my 
time.

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