Sally Rowley

Sally Rowley
A young white woman with straight hair parted center and dressed back to the nape; she is wearing a light-colored sleeveless top with a mock turtleneck, and the chain of a police number board is visible around her neck, because this is a mug shot.
Rowley's 1961 mugshot
Born
Sara Jane Rowley

(1931-10-20)October 20, 1931
Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedMay 14, 2020(2020-05-14) (aged 88)
Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
Alma materStephens College
Occupation(s)Civil rights advocate, aircraft pilot, flight attendant, secretary, jeweler, hawker
EmployerAmerican Airlines

Sara Jane "Sally" Rowley (October 20, 1931 – May 14, 2020) was an American jewelry-maker and civil rights activist.[1]

Early life and education

Rowley was born in Trenton, New Jersey,[2] the daughter of Emos Rowley and Sara Rowley. She graduated from Stephens College in Missouri. At Stephens, she learned to fly small planes and worked as a flight attendant for American Airlines after graduation.[1]

Activism

Rowley worked as a secretary in New York in the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1959, she was aboard a plane hijacked by Cuban gunmen.[3] She joined the Freedom Riders, who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States to challenge the non-enforcement of the Supreme Court's ruling that segregated public buses were unconstitutional.[4] She was arrested with other Freedom Riders by Jackson County police in July 1961.[5][6] After serving time in Mississippi State Penitentiary she returned to New York, but later lived in Mexico, Guatemala, Hawaii, California, and New Mexico, making and selling her jewelry.[1]

Personal life and death

Rowley's partner was artist Felix Pasilis; they never formally married, but lived and worked together from the 1960s until his death in 2018. They had children, Sofie and Oliver, and raised his daughter, Beatrice.[1]

She died from COVID-19 in May 2020, at age 88, after it swept through her Tucson, Arizona, nursing home amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Arizona.[1] Her granddaughter, Anika Pasilis, wrote an op-ed essay about attending Rowley's deathbed through a window at the nursing home.[7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Romero, Simon (2020-05-21). "Sally Rowley, Jewelry Maker and Freedom Rider, Dies at 88". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
  2. ^ Nadel, Logan (July 15, 2020). "Sally Rowley: Civil Rights Activist and Friend of the People". Trenton Daily. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  3. ^ "Cuban Gunmen Hijack Airliner". Spokane Chronicle. 1959-04-16. p. 13. Retrieved 2020-12-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Arsenault, Raymond. Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice; "Appendix: Roster of Freedom Riders" Oxford University Press (2011); page 574. ISBN 9780199754311
  5. ^ "Rowley, Sally Jane, 1931-". Welcome to the Civil Rights Digital Library. 1961-07-29. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
  6. ^ Arsenault, R. (2007). Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice. Pivotal moments in American history. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-532714-4. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
  7. ^ "UA student: My grandmother deserved better than 'goodbye' through a window". Arizona Daily Star. May 17, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  8. ^ Gorden, Max (May 26, 2020). "Freedom Rider Dies in Tucson Care Facility after Contracting COVID-19". AZFamily. Retrieved December 27, 2020.