Civil Rights Movement Photographs
The Children's Crusade: Birmingham — 1963

We shall not,   we shall not be moved

Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth leading marchers in prayer just before they are arrested in early April.

James Bevel. SCLC direct action organizer and leader.

16th Street Baptist Church — Movement Headquarters. (Birmingham Civil Rights Institute photo.)

Dr. King and Rev. Abernathy under arrest on Good Friday, 1963.

Letter From a Birmingham Jail

The Young Students of Birmingham Rally to the Cause

Dorothy Bell, 19, sitting-in at a Birmingham lunch counter, April 1963. She is arrested shortly after this photo is taken.

Thousands of men, women, boys, and girls, are arrested for violating Birmingham's segregation laws. (Birmingham Civil Rights Institute photo.)

Free speech, Birmingham style — Hold a sign, go to jail.

Rythmn & Blues singer Al Hibbler and students stopped by cops for picketing near Trailways bus station.

Parker High student Mattie Howard under arrest.

Young nonviolent warriors on their way to jail.

With the jails full, student protesters are incarcerated in buildings at the county fair grounds and "Bull" Connor switches tactics from arrest to violence.

Police dogs attack nonviolent marcher.

On the orders of Bull Connor, high-pressure firehoses are used against young demonstrators.

But Birmingham high-school students won't stop marching, and won't be turned around, May, 1963

"I was really, really involved. I didn't realize at the time how dangerous the situation was. The only thing I was concerned with was that I wanted my freedom, I wanted to be able to go where I wanted, like everyone else did."  — Dannela Bryant, Civil Rights Movement: A Photographic History

The courage of the children inspires their elders.

Mass meeting, Bethel Baptist Church, 1963.

Marchers in Harlem support Birmingham protesters and demand that Dr. King be released from jail.

 

September 15, 1963 Seventeen days after the March on Washington the Klan Strikes Back

Addie Mae Collins (14) Cynthia Wesley (14) Carole Robertson (14) Denise McNair (11)

In the Deep South, the KKK operates openly with the support of police and politicians. Parents bring their children to public Klan rallies to teach another generation the lessons of hate and bigotry.

Heavily armed Alabama State Troopers make a show of force near the [16th Street Baptist] church.   Dorie Ladner of SNCC at the funeral of the murdered children.   SNCC members at the funeral.     Copyrights © to these photographs belong to the photographers. Commercial use of these pictures is prohibited without the express written permission of the photographer. To identify the photographer (if known), simply let your cursor hover over the image to display the photographer's name, or view the image metadata. PREVIOUS NEXT © Copyright Webspinner: webmaster@crmvet.org (Labor donated)