Biography
Matthew Petway, an African American clergyman and civil-rights worker, was arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, on July 24, 1961, for participating in the Freedom Rides and challenging segregation in interstate transportation — one of the arrests recorded by the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission and preserved in the Civil Rights Digital Library. The catalog establishes the arrest, the participation, and the individually identified police photograph, but not the court disposition, any transfer to Parchman, or the physical release date; those fields are unresolved pending county-jail, court, or penitentiary records.
He was arrested with Alphonso Kelly Petway and Kredelle Petway and with Cecil A. Thomas after the group challenged segregated interstate facilities.
