March 6, 1957

Civil rights activists Fred and Ruby Shuttlesworth challenged the segregation of the Birmingham Terminal Station, boarding a train without incident in front of an angry crowd. A Baptist minister by trade, Fred Shuttlesworth founded the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights in 1956 and led significant efforts in Birmingham throughout the civil rights movement. He attempted to desegregate the Birmingham Transit Authority, supported the Freedom Riders, and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). In 1963, Shuttlesworth initiated the Birmingham Campaign and worked with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the SCLC to coordinate widely publicized demonstrations that helped lead to the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Today, the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport is named in his honor.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

The Rev. Fred Lee Shuttlesworth (1922-2011) was a central figure in Alabama’s civil rights movement. He founded the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights in Birmingham in 1956, and along with the Revs. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph David Abernathy, orchestrated the Birmingham Campaign of 1963. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, Birmingham Public Libraries)

In 1958, the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth was arrested for sitting in the white section of a Birmingham bus. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of The Birmingham News)

Civil rights leaders the Revs. Martin Luther King Jr. (foreground), Fred Shuttlesworth (left), and Ralph Abernathy (right) attend a voter-registration drive at the Dallas County Courthouse in Selma in January 1965. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of The Birmingham News)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.