Sitting for Justice – The Montgomery Bus Boycott: Drawings by Harvey Dinnerstein and Burton Silverman
February 14, 2026 – June 7, 2026

In March of 1956, two young artists, Harvey Dinnerstein and Burt Silverman, embarked on a journey to record history in the making. Together, they traveled from New York City to Montgomery, Alabama, to document, through their drawings, ordinary people engaged in a mighty endeavor, a demonstration of civil disobedience which came to be known as the
Montgomery Bus Boycott.

What began as a local phenomenon received widespread national and international attention, serving as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. The Boycott, according to the artists, was “a struggle that went beyond specific issues of segregation in buses, to address larger concerns of inequality across the nation.”

During their time in Montgomery, Dinnerstein and Silverman created more than 90 drawings from courtroom scenes to church meetings to portraits of those who chose, according to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., to “walk in dignity rather than ride in humiliation.” The Upcountry History Museum, in partnership with the Delaware Art Museum, will present a selection of 30 of these rarely exhibited or published sketches, in an exhibition commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

The exhibition traces the artists observations of this event in American history that began with the arrest of Rosa Parks on charges of disorderly conduct on Dec. 1, 1955, when she refused to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man. As a result, the African American community was galvanized to action and the Montgomery Improvement Association was formed, with the 26-year-old Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as president. The Association filed a suit in federal court on behalf of those discriminated against by the bus service. In 1956, the federal court ruled in favor of the Association and declared segregated bus service unconstitutional. After an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the boycott finally ended on December 20, 1956, when the high court ordered Montgomery to integrate its bus system.

Dinnerstein and Silverman drew Montgomery’s African American citizens walking and carpooling, listening to speeches by community leaders and civil rights activists, and participating in the trial that challenged the segregation of public transportation. The exhibition features their drawings, ranging from expressive portraits to impassioned courtroom drama, and captures the spectrum of actions and emotions that marked the boycott as a turning point in the struggle for civil rights.

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