On Dec. 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man who had boarded the bus. Her arrest led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The boycott led to the integration of Montgomery’s public transportation system (and public transportation systems beyond).

The story of this boycott is not just that it happened. The story, the real story, in my mind, is how long the boycott continued. The boycott lasted 381 days. It ended on Dec. 20, 1956, when the U.S. Supreme Court’s order directing Montgomery to desegregate its buses was hand-delivered to the city’s then-mayor, W.A. Gayle.

The boycott was able to last as long as it did because of planning. Its planning and implementation were led by an organization created for this sole purpose, the Mo

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