May 2, 1963

Civil rights leaders in Birmingham, including the Revs. Fred Shuttlesworth and Martin Luther King Jr. launched the controversial Children’s Crusade as part of the 1963 Birmingham campaign. The crusade enlisted thousands of black schoolchildren as demonstrators to generate media attention. After police arrested hundreds of students as young as 8 years old, City Commissioner “Bull” Connor ordered the use of fire hoses and police dogs to contain the protests. Images of the brutal use of force captured by the media helped to shift national support to the protesters and ultimately helped lead to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

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Police K-9 units were deployed to manage crowds of protesters during the Birmingham campaign of the civil rights movement in May 1963. Such actions brought massive negative publicity to the city in the national media. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, Courtesy of The Birmingham News. All rights reserved. Used with permission.)

During the Birmingham campaign of 1963, City Commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor jailed hundreds of protesters and authorized the use of fire hoses and police dogs on others. This image was one of many published in the mass media that raised a public outcry to end civil rights abuses in the South. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of The Birmingham News. All rights reserved. Used with permission.)

A protester taunts police during the Birmingham campaign of 1963. Thousands of nonviolent protesters demonstrated in the streets, demanding an end to segregation. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of The Birmingham News. All rights reserved. Used with permission.)

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