The 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott

A struggle for racial justice

In 1963, activists from the West Indian Development Council (WIDC) had their suspicions confirmed that Bristol Omnibus Company operated a colour bar on the employment of drivers and conductors.

But who was behind this? Management? Workers? Unions? Passengers?

Silu Pascoe explores the background and the ensuing campaign to end the blatant discrimination on the buses.

“I was there!”

One of the young activists was Joyce Morris-Wisdom. In this pamphlet, she tells of her experience as a teenager newly arrived in Bristol and gives her eyewitness account of the campaign in which she was involved.