Which organization sponsored the 1961 Freedom Rides challenging segregation on interstate buses?

The Congress of Racial Equality sponsored the 1961 Freedom Rides challenging segregation on interstate buses.

CORE organized the rides to test whether Southern states were enforcing Supreme Court decisions that declared segregation in interstate bus and railway facilities unconstitutional. On May 4, 1961, an interracial group of riders left Washington, D.C., intending to travel through the Deep South.

The riders encountered mob violence, including the firebombing of a bus near Anniston, Alabama, and attacks in Birmingham and Montgomery. After the initial CORE riders were forced to stop, student activists associated with SNCC continued the campaign. The violence attracted national attention and federal action.

The Interstate Commerce Commission issued rules banning segregation in interstate bus and rail facilities, effective November 1, 1961. The Freedom Rides showed how nonviolent direct action could expose the gap between federal law and local practice, while also demonstrating the importance of cooperation among civil-rights organizations.