DAVENPORT, Iowa — It may not be your typical trolley ride, but it gets the job done.
On Monday, Aug. 5, 20 passengers took a ride on the first-ever Davenport Civil Rights Trolley Tour. The Davenport Civil Rights Commission partnered with St. Ambrose University and the Putnam Museum to add some wheels and stops to their previous walking tour.
"Those who created the Davenport civil rights walking tour wanted something that could tell the story," Ryan Saddler with St. Ambrose said.
The walking tour debuted in 2011 with seven historical landmarks for community members to explore. The trolley now makes an additional three stops.
"[They] may not be designated markers, but they're important stops when we tell the Davenport civil rights, modern civil rights story," Saddler said.
The tour began at the Putnam Museum and included stops at St. Ambrose's Christ is King chapel and Charles and Ann Toney's house; the locations were crucial players in Davenport's civil rights movement.
The inaugural ride was packed, selling out every seat, and organizers hope that helps show the interest community members have in the stories of their community.
"People want to know more about the history that lives here, and it wasn't that long ago. We're talking 1950s to the early 1970s," Saddler said.
"I want to know. I want to know [about] the other people's experience. [I want to know] why this is important," rider Kathleen McLaughlin said.
Saddler also said that leading the visits is an immense honor.
"They've entrusted me and others with their story," he said, "with the understanding that their story would be told, that their family's story would be told."
And those stories will be told once again next week, when the trolley tour returns on Monday, Aug. 12. The ride is already sold out, and the Davenport Civil Rights Commission is hoping to add more tour dates to the schedule.