{"66068":{"#nid":"66068","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Alumna \u2018Gets on the Bus\u2019 with PBS Freedom Ride","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAs students departed for celebratory trips and vacations upon\ngraduation, newly minted Georgia Tech alumna Kaitlyn Whiteside boarded a bus to\nretrace the route of the civil rights movement\u2019s freedom riders with PBS\u2019s 2011\nStudent Freedom Ride. Activists who participated in the rides during the 1960s\nmovement are accompanying the students on the 10-day journey that began in\nWashington, D.C., last Friday and will conclude in New Orleans on May 16. Today, the bus passes through Atlanta, visiting historically significant locations in the city before ending the day in Anniston, Ala.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EWhiteside, who earned her bachelor\u2019s degree in history,\ntechnology and society from the Institute last week, left with 39 other college\nstudents from around the country. Their ride will chart a course through\nVirginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee,\nMississippi and Louisiana, stopping at historical landmarks along\nthe way to spark reflection from the freedom riders and discourse with students\nabout modern civic engagement issues.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EWhiteside developed an interest in the civil rights movement\nduring her college career, starting a research project during her second year\non the desegregation of Chattanooga with Ronald Bayor, professor and chair for the\nSchool of History, Technology and Society.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI stumbled on quite the gold mine of primary documents from\na 26-year legal battle to desegregate Chattanooga Public Schools,\u201d Whiteside\nsaid. \u201cThe man who filed the original lawsuit in the 1960s is still living in\nthe area, and I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to interview him\nfor my paper.\u201d Whiteside is still in the progress of completing and publishing\nwhat she called the \u201cever-lengthening\u201d paper, and credits the experience with\nsparking her interest in the historical movement.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 2011 Student Freedom Ride is part of a series of activities\nleading up to the May 16 broadcast of the documentary \u201cFreedom Riders,\u201d celebrating\n50 years since the original Freedom Rides of 1961. The students, along with original\nfreedom riders, appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on May 4 as part of an\nepisode commemorating the anniversary. The occasion also coincides with Georgia\nTech\u2019s ongoing celebration of the 50th anniversary of the matriculation of\nblack students and peaceful integration of its campus.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003Cp\u003EStudents will use social media to document their experiences\nthroughout the trip in an effort to expand their conversation on how civic\nactivism has evolved since the 1960s. Follow Whiteside on her freedom ride \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/americanexperience\/freedomriders\/2011\/tag\/kaitlyn-whiteside\/\u0022\u003Eat\nthe PBS website\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAlumna Kaitlyn Whiteside is participating in PBS\u2019s 2011\nStudent Freedom Ride.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Alumna Kaitlyn Whiteside is participating in PBS\u2019s 2011 Student Freedom Ride."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2011-05-10 10:14:43","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:08:41","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2011-05-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2011-05-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"66000":{"id":"66000","type":"image","title":"Kaitlyn Whiteside","body":null,"created":"1449176916","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:08:36","changed":"1475894585","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:05","alt":"Kaitlyn Whiteside","file":{"fid":"192451","name":"kaitlyn_whiteside-150x150.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/kaitlyn_whiteside-150x150_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/kaitlyn_whiteside-150x150_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":8296,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/kaitlyn_whiteside-150x150_0.jpg?itok=2v2SjzUF"}}},"media_ids":["66000"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/americanexperience\/freedomriders\/2011\/","title":"About the Student Freedom Ride"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/americanexperience\/freedomriders\/2011\/tag\/kaitlyn-whiteside\/","title":"Follow Kaitlyn Whiteside\u0027s Ride"}],"groups":[{"id":"1182","name":"General"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"13107","name":"freedom riders"},{"id":"11776","name":"History technology and society"},{"id":"13062","name":"Kaitlyn Whiteside"},{"id":"2521","name":"pbs"},{"id":"170728","name":"student freedom ride"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kristen.shaw@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKristen Shaw\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}