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Sarah Mae Flemming

This is a place holder for detailing a complete article on the contributions of Sarah Mae Flemming to the American civil rights movement. The documentary referenced below is a starting point for this article.

Reference: BEFORE ROSA: THE UNSUNG CONTRIBUTION OF SARAH MAE FLEMMING Producer: Steve Crump Productions Charlotte, NC Co-Producer: 	Eric Davis 3242 Commonwealth Avenue Charlotte, NC 28205

History
Short Description: Seventeen months before [Rosa Parks] refused to surrender her seat on an Alabama bus in 1955, a little-known Civil Rights heroine named Sarah Mae Flemming refused to obey a similar ordinance on a bus in Columbia, SC. Flemming’s story has largely faded from the public’s memory. “Before Rosa” tells of Flemming’s experience with an angry bus driver and her struggle to get her lawsuit against the bus company to court. Eventually, the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that segregated seating in Flemming’s case was unconstitutional. The ruling became a precedent that played an important role later in the Parks case.