1963

After being arrested on April 12 for defying an injunction against demonstrations, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his Letter from Birmingham Jail in response to eight white Alabama clergymen who called the protests 'unwise and untimely.' The letter argued the moral necessity of nonviolent direct action against unjust laws.

Over 1,000 Black children, some as young as six, marched from Sixteenth Street Baptist Church into downtown Birmingham on May 2. On May 3, Bull Connor ordered police to use fire hoses and attack dogs on the young protesters at Kelly Ingram Park. Photographs of children knocked down by hoses shocked the nation and the world.

NAACP Mississippi field secretary Medgar Evers was shot in the back by a high-powered rifle in his driveway in Jackson, Mississippi, dying within the hour. White supremacist Byron De La Beckwith was twice tried and twice acquitted by all-white juries in 1964. He was not convicted until 1994.

KKK members planted dynamite under the steps of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four girls: Addie Mae Collins (14), Cynthia Wesley (14), Carole Robertson (14), and Carol Denise McNair (11). Twenty-two others were injured. The church had served as a civil rights organizing hub.

The SCLC launched 'Project C' (for Confrontation) in Birmingham, Alabama — targeting the most segregated large city in America. Organizers Wyatt Tee Walker and Fred Shuttlesworth coordinated sit-ins, marches, and economic boycotts of downtown businesses. Bull Connor's violent response was part of the calculated strategy to force national attention.

Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor ordered police dogs and high-pressure fire hoses turned on Black demonstrators, including hundreds of children, during Project C (Confrontation). Hoses with 100 psi pressure tore clothing and knocked marchers against buildings. Images shocked the nation and world.

Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor ordered police dogs and high-pressure fire hoses turned on Black demonstrators, including hundreds of children, during Project C. Hoses at 100 psi tore clothing and knocked marchers against buildings. Images shocked the nation.

Over May 3-5, Birmingham police and fire departments continued attacking peaceful Black marchers with dogs and fire hoses. Over 2,500 demonstrators, many of them children, were jailed. SCLC's Fred Shuttlesworth was slammed against a wall by a fire hose and hospitalized. Bull Connor reportedly expressed satisfaction.

Returning from a voter registration training in South Carolina, Fannie Lou Hamer and fellow SNCC workers were arrested in Winona, Mississippi. Hamer was beaten in her cell by two Black prisoners under orders from state highway patrolmen. She sustained permanent kidney damage, a blood clot behind one eye, and limped for years. No officers faced serious charges.

Returning from voter registration training, Fannie Lou Hamer was arrested in Winona, Mississippi and beaten by prisoners under orders from highway patrolmen. She sustained permanent kidney damage, a blood clot behind one eye, and limped for years. No officers faced serious charges.

President Kennedy delivered a nationally televised address calling civil rights a 'moral issue' and announcing he would send comprehensive civil rights legislation to Congress. The bill would ban discrimination in public accommodations and authorize the federal government to file school desegregation suits. Its Senate passage required overcoming Southern opposition.

On the same day as the church bombing, Birmingham police shot and killed 16-year-old Johnny Robinson who was fleeing. White teenagers also shot and killed 13-year-old Virgil Ware on his bicycle. No white perpetrators faced serious charges.

On the same day as the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Birmingham police shot and killed 16-year-old Johnny Robinson, who was fleeing. Separately, white teenagers shot and killed 13-year-old Virgil Ware on his bicycle. No white perpetrators faced serious charges.

Hoover suppressed investigative evidence gathered by field agents identifying Robert Chambliss, Thomas Blanton, Bobby Frank Cherry, and Herman Cash as responsible for the 16th Street bombing. Hoover closed the federal investigation in 1968. Chambliss was not convicted until 1977; Blanton and Cherry not until 2001-2002.

FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover suppressed investigative evidence gathered by field agents identifying KKK members Robert Chambliss, Thomas Blanton, Bobby Frank Cherry, and Herman Cash as responsible for the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Hoover closed the federal investigation in 1968. Chambliss was not convicted until 1977; Blanton and Cherry not until 2001-2002.

Black families attempting to move into white neighborhoods in Birmingham, Chicago, and Detroit faced mob violence, bombings, and arson. Birmingham's pattern was so frequent the city earned the nickname 'Bombingham.' The FBI rarely investigated these attacks as civil rights violations.

Throughout the early 1960s, Black families attempting to move into previously all-white neighborhoods in cities including Birmingham, Chicago, and Detroit faced mob violence, bombings, and arson. Birmingham's pattern of bombings in transitional neighborhoods was so frequent the city earned the nickname 'Bombingham.' The FBI rarely investigated these attacks as civil rights violations.

After weeks of protests, the Kennedy administration brokered an agreement between Birmingham business leaders and the SCLC: lunch counters, restrooms, and drinking fountains would be desegregated; Black workers would be hired in clerical and sales positions. The agreement was a partial victory that directly pressured Kennedy toward federal legislation.

Jackson, Mississippi police arrested over 600 Black students during a lunch counter sit-in campaign, using electric cattle prods. Protestors were held in livestock compounds at the state fairgrounds with little food or sanitation. NAACP leader Medgar Evers organized the protests; he was assassinated weeks later.

Jackson, Mississippi police arrested over 600 Black students during a lunch counter sit-in campaign, using electric cattle prods against demonstrators. Protestors were held in livestock compounds at the state fairgrounds in inhumane conditions with little food or sanitation. NAACP leader Medgar Evers organized the protests and was assassinated weeks later.

250,000 gather as Dr. King delivers "I Have a Dream," pressing for jobs and freedom.

Thousands of Black schoolchildren march in Birmingham; images of fire hoses and police dogs turned against children shift the nation.

Children marchers face dogs and fire hoses; the images shock the nation.

The NAACP leader is murdered outside his Mississippi home.

Klan members kill four girls in Birmingham, a crime that hardens national resolve.

Alabama Governor George Wallace pledges eternal segregation in his inaugural address.