"Mother" Pollard (c. 1882–1885 – before 1963) was an American church elder who participated in the 1955–1956

Montgomery bus boycott The Montgomery bus boycott was a political and social boycott, protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. It was a foundational event in the civil rights movement in the United ...

. She has been called a civil rights hero for her tenacity in soothing the spirit of her pastor,

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

Pollard was an elder of the

Dexter Avenue Baptist Church Dexter Avenue Baptist Church is a Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama, United States, affiliated with the Progressive National Baptist Convention. The church was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1974 because of its importance i ...

in Montgomery,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, during the time of the bus boycott. It was a seminal event in the civil rights movement that produced a political and social

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

campaign against the policy of

racial segregation Racial segregation is the separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, ...

on the public transit system in Montgomery. King recounted in his writings that after several weeks of walking to her destinations rather than take the bus, he suggested to Mother Pollard, then about 72, that she might take the bus again for the sake of her health. She replied, "My feets is tired, but my soul is rested." She was dubbed "Mother" because of her age; her real first name is unknown.

References

1880s births Date of birth missing Place of birth missing Year of death missing 20th-century deaths Place of death missing American civil rights activists {{US-activist-stub