In January, 1199SEIU lost a beloved hero. Claudette Colvin, who at age 15 refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama public bus, passed away on Jan. 13 in Texas at 86. Her courageous action occurred nine months before Rosa Parks’ more famous refusal to give up her bus seat. Colvin’s action led to her being convicted and placed on probation for “assaulting a police officer.”

She became an 1199er in 1986 when she joined the staff at Mary Manning Walsh Nursing Home in Manhattan. She retired in 2004 after 36 devoted years as a Nursing Assistant.

Colvin came to the attention of 1199ers and much of the nation when author Phillip Hoose won the 2009 National Book Award in the Young People’s Literature category for Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice.

The book’s title refers to Colvin’s double challenge to Montgomery’s segregated bus law. The first was her courageous refusal to give up her seat in 1955, and the second, her brave decision to become one of four plaintiffs in the Browder v. Gayle lawsuit that finally overturned the Jim Crow law in the following year. Hoose’s work focuses on Colvin but also recounts the historic 381-day bus boycott that ultimately made Rosa Parks a civil rights icon and helped boost the political profile of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. in the early days.

Dr. King, Parks and their lawyer, Fred Gray came to Colvin’s defense, but a number of civil rights leaders felt that the teenager was not suited to be the public face of mass protest. Gray said, however, that her action gave moral courage to many local activists to carry on.

Colvin was among the honored guests at a 2009 fiftieth anniversary celebration of 1199’s historic hospital organizing campaign. Interviewed at the celebration, Colvin said of her refusal, “It was an impulsive act. It was not planned.”

During a 2015 interview with 1199 Magazine, she stated, “When I was ordered to get up, I felt as if Sojourner Truth’s hand was pushing down on one shoulder and Harriet Tubman’s hand was pushing down on the other, so I refused to move.”

Fearing retribution, she maintained a low profile at Mary Manning Walsh. She said that while there, she was guided by the biblical admonition “to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Though not especially active, she said that she attended chapter meetings and did her stints on picket lines.

Colvin spent most of her working life in the Parkchester section of the Bronx. She moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, to be close to family.

Late in life, the city she fled celebrated her civil rights contributions. In 2017, Montgomery proclaimed March 2 Claudette Colvin Day. In 2019, a marker commemorating Colvin and the other plaintiffs in the Browder v. Gaylelawsuit was unveiled in the city. In 2021, a mural honoring her was unveiled there. Also that year, her assault conviction was expunged from her record, lifting her probation.

Colvin’s first child, Raymond, passed away in 1993. Her second son, Randy, is an assistant professor at Texas A&M University–Kingsville. He heads the Claudette Colvin Legacy Foundation along with Jennifer Colvin-Hadraoui, Colvin’s granddaughter.

Colvin said in one of her 1199 interviews that she hoped her sitting down had made it easier for youth and the rest of us to stand up for justice.