1199SEIU hosted on Feb. 23 as part of its Black History Month commemorations a conversation with Civil Rights Movement icon Claudette Colvin at the Union’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Labor Center Auditorium in Manhattan.

The talk was part of an evening-long program that featured a dance performance by Adaku Utah, music by violinist Juliette Jones and a video excerpt from the award-winning documentary “Eyes On The Prize.”

Ms. Colvin was the first person arrested for resisting bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama. At just 15, and months before the official start of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Colvin refused to stand when the “white seats” of the bus she was riding home from school were filled. Colvin and three other women were ordered to move to the back of the bus so white passengers could sit down. They were arrested and convicted or assault, disturbing the peace and violating Jim Crow segregation laws.

“We’re humbled to have you here with us,” said 1199SEIU Pres. George Gresham. “And it’s an honor that an 1199 member is a living part of history.” Colvin later moved to New York City and became a healthcare worker.

Civil rights leaders didn’t publicize her case because she was a young, unwed mother, but Colvin’s actions paved the way for Rosa Parks’ historic stand.

“I do feel like what I did was a spark,” she says “Ms. Parks was the right person to start the boycott. My family knew her and my mother used to say she was like the Queen Esther of her generation, but the other women who were on the bus also helped make sure that segregation on Montgomery City Buses became unconstitutional.”

When asked where her courage came from on that fateful day, Ms. Colvin was thoughtful. “Someone asked me that once,” she said matter-of-factly. “And I just told him that history had me glued to that seat.”