MACON, Ga. — Macon is mourning a living link to the city’s civil rights history.
She is Shirley Bivins Johnson, who died last week at age 70. In 1963, she was the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit that desegregated Bibb County’s schools.
She was just 12-years-old, and her family filed the lawsuit on behalf of Shirley and her siblings. The next year, Judge William Augusts Bootle ordered the school system to desegregate.
Those siblings include Thelma Dillard, a longtime school board member, and Bert Bivins, who retired this year as county commission.
Johnson is also survived by two children and nine grandchildren. She’ll be buried Thursday in Macon Memorial Park.
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