Sarah Louise Keys

Sarah Louise Keys was a figure in the Civil rights movement in the United States.

US Army Photo of PFC Sarah Louise Keys

A native of Washington, North Carolina,[1] Keys was the daughter of David Keys, a Navy veteran of World War I and a convert to Catholicism.[2] Keys enlisted in the Women's Army Corps in 1951.[3] She completed her training at Fort McClellan, Alabama, and was stationed at Fort Dix in New Jersey.[3]

As a Private First Class on 1 August 1952, Keys traveled from Fort Dix to her family's home North Carolina. When the bus stopped to change drivers, the new bus driver demanded that Keys relinquish her seat to a white Marine. Keys, feeling tired, declined. She was arrested and spent 13 hours alone in a jail cell in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. She was then ordered to pay a $25 fine for disorderly conduct.[1]

Keys was represented by attorney Dovey Johnson Roundtree in Keys v. Carolina Coach Co. During that time, Keys had been assigned to Fort Knox, Kentucky.[3] and was discharged in 1953.[1] The case was finally resolved in Keys' favor in 1955 by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Keys was working at a beauty salon in Brooklyn when the news broke. She had tried to keep her case a secret, but her photo soon appeared in the newspapers.[1] Later that same year, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to yield her seat to a white passenger.

In 1958, Sarah Keys married George Evans.[3] She was invited to speak at the 1997 Dedication of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial.[3] In 2020, Roanoke Rapids declared 1 August to be "Sarah Keys Evans Day," and dedicated a mural depicting her story.[4]