Civil Rights Movement in Alabama

Alabama was the site of many key events in the American civil rights movement. Rosa Parks's stand against segregation on a public bus led to the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the violence targeted toward the Freedom Riders of the early 1960s drew the nation's attention to racial hatred in Alabama. Protests led by Rev. Martin Luther King, bombings in Birmingham, and the pivotal march from Selma to Montgomery led the government to approve the Civil Rights Act in 1965.

"Letter from Birmingham Jail"

Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is the most important written document of the...

Gomillion v. Lightfoot

In its 1960 decision in Gomillion v. Lightfoot, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Tuskegee city officials...

Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR)

The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) was the most important civil rights organization...

Birmingham Campaign of 1963

The climax of the modern civil rights movement occurred in Birmingham. The city's violent response...

Bloody Sunday

"Bloody Sunday" refers to the March 7, 1965, civil rights march that was supposed to go from Selma to...

Children's Crusade

The Children's Crusade was a controversial episode of the civil rights movement and the 1963 …

Fred Lee Shuttlesworth

African American Baptist pastor and the central leader of the civil rights movement in Birmingham, Fred...

Freedom Rides

The 1961 Freedom Rides were public bus trips undertaken by racially integrated groups through the Deep...

Jo Ann Robinson

Although not as well-known as Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King, Jr., Jo Ann Robinson (1912-1992) was...

Lowndes County Freedom Organization

The Lowndes County Freedom Organization, or Black Panther Party, was a short-lived political party that...

Martin Luther King Jr.

Minister, philosopher, and social activist Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was America's most...

Modern Civil Rights Movement in Alabama

The modern civil rights movement in Alabama burst into public consciousness with a single act of civil...

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Made famous by Rosa Parks's refusal to give her seat to a white man, the Montgomery bus boycott...

Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA)

The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was formed in the days following the December 1955 arrest...

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Alabama (NAACP)

Beginning in 1913, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was the leading...

National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA)

The National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA) was formed in 1968 to provide blacks with an alternative...

Neighborhood Organized Workers of Mobile (NOW)

The Neighborhood Organized Workers (NOW) was a civil and economic rights organization founded in Mobile...

Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks (1913-2005) is one of the most enduring symbols of the tumultuous civil rights era of the...

Selma to Montgomery March

The 1965 Selma to Montgomery March was the climactic event of the Selma voting rights demonstrations....

Sixteenth Street Baptist Church

Located in Birmingham, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was the first house of worship for African...

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

In January 1957, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and a group of African American clergymen...

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Alabama (SNCC)

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, pronounced "Snick") was founded in Raleigh, North...