Civil Rights in Birmingham

by Laura Caldell Anderson, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

Overview

Since the city's founding in 1871, African American citizens of Birmingham have organized for equal access to justice and public accommodations. However, when thousands of young people took to the streets of Birmingham in the spring of 1963, their protest finally broke the back of segregation, bringing local leadership to its knees. While their parents could not risk loss of jobs or life, local youth agreed to bear the brunt of resistance by law enforcement and vigilantes to their acts of civil disobedience. By the fall, even youth who did not participate in the Children's Movement gave all for the struggle when a bomb placed in the 16th Street Baptist Church exploded and killed four girls.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467110679
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	11/11/2013
Series:	Images of America Series
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	1,106,169
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Selected by the archives staff at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI), photographs featured in Images of America: Civil Rights in Birmingham are lesser-known images of people and events that gave rise to the Birmingham Movement, now known around the world as a turning point in the 20th-century struggle for civil and human rights in the United States. A museum and research center, BCRI also symbolizes change. Located in a city once called the most segregated in the South, it seeks to use lessons of the past to foster reconciliation and understanding in the present—both at home and abroad.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 6

Introduction 7

1 Barriers: Black and White-One City, Two Worlds 9

2 Confrontation: Struggles against Segregation Intensify 39

3 Movement: Courageous Spirits Hit the Streets 67

4 Milestones: Changes to the Political Landscape 101

5 Memorialization: Remembering the Birmingham Movement 115

Bibliography 126

About the Organization 127