Irene M. Kirkaldy; Case Spurred Freedom Rides

Success came, however, when two young NAACP lawyers, Thurgood Marshall and William H. Hastie, appealed her conviction of violating segregation laws all the way to the Supreme Court. (Marshall became the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court; Hastie, the first African American judge on a federal appeals court.)

On June 3, 1946, in Irene Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in interstate travel was unconstitutional as "an undue burden on commerce."

In a 6 to 1 ruling, the court stated in part, "It seems clear to us that seating arrangements for the different races in interstate motor travel require a single, uniform rule to promote and protect national travel. Consequently, we hold the Virginia statute in controversy invalid."

Southern states refused to enforce the decision. In 1947, a group of black and white activists with the newly formed Congress of Racial Equality decided to test the Morgan decision on a two-week "Journey of Reconciliation" through four Southern states.

Traveling on buses and trains, the activists sang the song, "You Don't Have to Ride Jim Crow," which paid tribute to Mrs. Kirkaldy:

Get on the bus, sit anyplace,

'Cause Irene Morgan won her case.

Mrs. Kirkaldy was born April 9, 1917, in Baltimore, the sixth of nine children in a Seventh-day Adventist family. Growing up, she cleaned houses, washed clothes and cared for the children of white families. She married Sherman Morgan and had two children. At the time of the bus incident in 1944, she had gone to Gloucester to leave her children with her mother. Her husband died in 1948.

She later married Stanley Kirkaldy, a dry cleaner, and moved to Queens, N.Y., where together they ran a maid service and child-care business. A radio contest netted her a scholarship to St. John's University and a bachelor's degree in 1985. In 1990, at age 73, she received a master's degree in urban studies from Queens College.

Mrs. Kirkaldy, a humble woman who valued education and had a strong sense of justice, was never interested in fame, said a granddaughter, Janine Bacquie. However, recent recognition of her place in history did bring her "a measure of joy."

In 2000, Mrs. Kirkaldy was honored by Gloucester County during its 350th anniversary celebration, and in 2001, President Bill Clinton awarded her the Presidential Citizens Medal.

She moved from Long Island, N.Y., to Gloucester about five years ago. Her husband died in 2006.

Survivors include two children from her first marriage, Brenda Morgan Bacquie of Gloucester and Sherwood Morgan Jr. of Dover, Del.; two sisters, James Ethel Laforest of Upper Marlboro and Justine Walker of Baltimore; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.