Singleton was born on November 27, 1932, in Philadelphia, which is where she spent her childhood and most of her adult life. She grew up on her grandparents" farm with her mother and eight siblings. lieutenant was because of the segregation she witnessed as a child during summer trips with her mother that she later became a civil rights activist.
She got her Master of Public Administration in 1985 from Loyola Marymount University, and then she worked at University of California, Los Angeles developing courses, special programs, and a symposium on the arts and humanities.
Singleton"s activism began around the summer of 1961. "In the summer of 1961, as an undergraduate, I became a Freedom Rider along with a group of students from University of California, Los Angeles, and other campuses in Los Los Angeles My husband, Robert Singleton, was one of the organizers of the group.
The Freedom Rider movement, which tested discrimination in travel accommodations, was one of several forms of non-violent civil disobedience that we undertook to bring about social change.
We were arrested and incarcerated at Parchman Penitentiary near Jackson, Mississippi." The exact date of Helen Robert Singleton"s arrest was July 30, 1961. In the 2010 documentary Freedom Riders, Singleton spoke about how she was arrested at the Illinois Central train station.
She also described the conditions under which she was arrested:
The paddywagon was laid out in the sun, make sure it was hot for everyone inside. The policeman simply said, "Are y"all gonna move?" He asked us more than one time, and we didn"t.
We were taken to the city jail.
The person booking us was using what looked like an elementary school composition book He said, "What school do you go to?" I said, "Santa Monica City College." He said, "How do you spell Santa Monica?" I was young at the time and though he should know how to spell. We went to New Orleans and got more training in nonviolence.
We were told the night before, "Don"t go into town unless you have at least a dollar." You could get arrested.
When we got off the train, there were men standing around with dark glasses. I assumed they were Federal Bureau of Investigation, but turns out they were Mississippi Sovereignty Commission.
I saw a sign that said "White Only" and so the group and I walked in and sat down. I felt free, we were asked to leave, but we were committed to this.
We were surprised, but the arresting officer was actually black.
