Worcy Crawford is an unsung Civil Rights that many may not be aware of. During the the movement his buses provided the transportation for those active in the movement. What Crawford started generations ago continues to roll today, stronger than ever. So who is Worcy Crawford? Worcy Crawford was born in Hurtsboro, Alabama a small rural town in Russell County. In 1933 he relocated to Birmingham with big dreams about what was next in his life. Worcy had plans of attending college and then becoming a professor. While in Birmingham Worcy was able to land a job as a coal miner for Woodward Coal and Mine Company. While working as a coal miner, Crawford used his 1936 Chevy pickup truck as a charter vehicle for the Ensley All-Stars which was a neighborhood baseball team that had started playing in the Negro Leagues.
While transporting the team for city to city, Crawford and the players experienced the negative impacts of Jim Crow and segregation in the Deep South. The team traveled all across the Southeast and found it common that often times there were no restrooms for blacks when they stopped for gas, and the team had to make bring their own food on the road because most restaurants would not serve them. So Worcy would often times fix meals for the players, coaches, and himself for their road trips. As much dedication as Worcy gave to transporting the baseball team, he maintained his job as a coal miner which meant often times others would have to drive the team using his vehicle. When the baseball folded in 1953, Worcy had upgraded his pickup truck to a 1932 school bus and his growing bus service was dubbed "Crawford's Transportation Business". The city of Birmingham rejected his application for a business license on racial grounds but Crawford continued to provide services for Black community groups and churches that couldn't get services elsewhere. While attempting to get is business license, Worcy learned that the only kind of black-owned bus that would be eligible for a license would have to be a church vehicle. Crawford contacted an attorney and worked out a deal with the Trinity A.M.E. Church. He went back and applied for a bus license for the Trinity Church. It cost $1.50 instead of the $22 a commercial license would have cost. In addition, insurance rates were lower for church vehicles, and churches were exempt from income tax.
During this time in the South no Greyhound charter services were available for African-Americans so Crawford's services were in high demand. The Crawford buses eventually became important vehicles in the civil rights movement. Crawford donated the buses for trips to Montgomery and Washington for various civil rights marches. In 1959 Miles College contracted Crawford to transport students and staff to various events. This is an account that Crawford continues to service up to present day.
Worcy's old pick up truck which served as transportation for the Ensley All-Stars baseball team and hauled coal when needed had transformed to a 1932 school bus by the 1950s and by the 1970s had become an operating a fleet of 20 buses and employed two of his sons as drivers. Worcy Crawford, a young man from tiny Hurtsboro, Alabama became the founder of Crawford and Son's which was the very first black owned bus company in the state of Alabama. Today C&S Charters are still moving people across the South even though the man that founded the company is no longer with us. Chris Crawford and Donal Crawford Jr. who are the grandsons of Worcy are continuing their grandfather's legacy as they now run his company. C&S Charters is one of the oldest black owned businesses in the state and their fleets are some of the most popular in the state of Alabama. You'd be hard pressed to not see one of the C&S Charter on the road in Alabama and other states around the south. What started as only a dream for Worcy has turned into a healthy business that has served the state and the City for almost 7 decades.
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