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Igal Roodenko

Igal Roodenko, a Journey of Reconciliation rider, was arrested at the Chapel Hill bus station in April 1947 after he and Bayard Rustin took the front seats of two arrested riders. Judge Henry Whitfield, telling him Jews from New York could not upset Southern customs, gave him 30 days on a chain gang; he served 22 days at Roxboro in 1949.

Source: Carolina K-12, UNC: Journey of Reconciliation, 1947 (lesson and reading)

1 work about Igal Roodenko is indexed here, as is one work by Roodenko.

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StorylineChapel Hill's recorder's court, 1928–19641928–1964 · 9 events · Chapel Hill's recorder's court, which voters approved 93 to 8 in 1929, tried the township's misdemeanors in town. At its first session, on June 3, 1929, with C. P. Hinshaw on the bench, six cases were tried, and by March 1931 it had tried 780, only five of them appealed, while Superior Court terms at Hillsboro shrank from about five days to three. From 1931 town voters elected the judge, and in 1937 more than 200 residents petitioned to keep that election. In 1947 it sentenced Joseph Felmet to the county roads on the bus seating charge. In 1964 L. J. Phipps, first its judge in 1933, returned to the bench.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 8 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Journey of Reconciliation comes to Chapel Hill Interracial riders testing segregation on interstate buses reached Chapel Hill on April 12, 1947. The next day police arrested four of them at the bus station and a white cab driver struck rider James Peck. Convicted in Orange County, Bayard Rustin, Igal Roodenko and Joe Felmet surrendered at the Hillsborough courthouse on March 21, 1949 to serve chain-gang sentences. People: Bayard Rustin, George Houser, Igal Roodenko, Joseph A. Felmet Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Hillsborough courthouseTown of Chapel Hill: Information packet for Freedom Riders resolution (Council agenda, January 28, 2008) · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, February 27, 1976, p. 1
  2. Joseph Felmet is tried in Chapel Hill Recorder's Court on the bus seating charge and sentenced to the roads Felmet's trial, put off in May while Bayard Rustin and Igal Roodenko were tried, was held in Chapel Hill Recorder's Court on June 24, 1947. He was sentenced to the county roads, appealed to Superior Court and posted a $50 bond. People: Joseph A. Felmet, Bayard Rustin, Andrew Johnson (Journey of Reconciliation), Igal Roodenko Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, December 4, 1948, p. 4
  3. Superior court continues the Journey of Reconciliation bus seating case When the August term opened, Judge Walter J. Bone granted defense lawyer C. J. Gates of Durham a continuance in the case of Andrew S. Johnson, Bayard Rustin, Igal Roodenko and Joseph Felmet, charged under the state bus seating law. Solicitor W. H. Murdock had opposed the motion and asked for trial. People: Bayard Rustin, Igal Roodenko, Joseph A. Felmet, Andrew Johnson (Journey of Reconciliation) Place: Court house, Hillsborough · Also named: Walter J. Bone, C. J. Gates, W. H. MurdockThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), August 21, 1947, p. 1
  4. An Orange County Superior Court jury convicts Felmet and the other three Chapel Hill bus defendants A jury found Andrew S. Johnson, Bayard Rustin, Igal Roodenko and Joseph Felmet guilty of breaking the bus seating law, and Judge Chester Morris sentenced each to 30 days. The men, defended by C. J. Gates, Herman L. Taylor and E. R. Avent, appealed to the North Carolina Supreme Court and posted bond. People: Joseph A. Felmet, Bayard Rustin, Andrew Johnson (Journey of Reconciliation), Igal Roodenko Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Chester Morris, C. J. Gates, Herman L. Taylor, E. R. AventSearch the index · The News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 25, 1948, p. 1
  5. North Carolina Supreme Court upholds the convictions of Felmet and the other Chapel Hill bus riders In State v. Johnson the court affirmed the Orange County convictions, holding that the state seating statutes applied unless the riders proved they were interstate passengers. The opinion, like the lower court record, spells his name Joseph A. Felmont. People: Joseph A. Felmet, Bayard Rustin, Andrew Johnson (Journey of Reconciliation), Igal Roodenko Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Caselaw Access Project: State v. Johnson, 229 N.C. 701 (1949)
  6. Bayard Rustin and Igal Roodenko surrender in Hillsboro to serve their Journey of Reconciliation sentences During the March term of Superior Court, three of the four men convicted for the 1947 interracial bus-seating test at Chapel Hill, among them Bayard Rustin and Igal Roodenko, surrendered to county officers and were committed to the roads for the 30-day sentences the state Supreme Court had upheld. The fourth man failed to appear and a capias was issued for his arrest. People: Bayard Rustin, Igal Roodenko Place: Orange County Courthouse, HillsboroThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), March 24, 1949, p. 1
  7. Igal Roodenko returns to Chapel Hill to speak for amnesty Igal Roodenko, former chairman of the War Resisters League, who had been arrested in Chapel Hill on CORE's interracial bus ride testing a Supreme Court ruling on interstate seating, spoke to University and high school students for universal unconditional amnesty for Vietnam-era draft resisters and deserters, sponsored by the YM-YWCA and the Curriculum in Peace, War and Defense. People: Igal Roodenko Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, February 27, 1976, p. 1
  8. Journey of Reconciliation convictions are vacated On June 17, 2022, Orange County Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour vacated the disorderly conduct convictions of Bayard Rustin, Igal Roodenko, Andrew Johnson and Joseph Felmet. The four Journey of Reconciliation riders had been arrested in Chapel Hill in April 1947 for refusing to leave the front of an interstate bus. People: Bayard Rustin, Igal Roodenko, Andrew Johnson (Journey of Reconciliation), Joseph A. Felmet Place: Countywide · Also named: Allen BaddourOrange County, NC: Journey of Reconciliation

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Works about or by Igal Roodenko. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

By Igal Roodenko

Oral history interview with Igal Roodenko, April 11, 1974 interview B-0010, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).

Roodenko, Igal · 2007 · University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill

Southern Oral History Program group interview recorded April 11, 1974, with pacifist and civil rights worker Igal Roodenko joined by Joseph Felmet (1921-1994) and Charlotte Adams, questioned by Jacquelyn Hall and Jerry Wingate over about two and a quarter hours. Roodenko, born in New York in 1917 to immigrant parents, recalls the dilemma pacifists faced during the Second World War, conscientious objection, and Congress of Racial Equality activism against segregated transportation; the interview also covers chain gangs in North Carolina and civil rights demonstrations in Chapel Hill. Electronic edition, UNC Library, 2007.

NC Cardinal UNC

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