Children's Crusade (1963)

The Children's Crusade was a march by hundreds of school students in Birmingham, Alabama, May 2–5, 1963, during the American Civil Rights Movement's Birmingham campaign. Initiated and organized by Rev. James Bevel, the purpose of the march was to walk downtown to talk to the mayor about segregation in their city. Many children left their schools and were arrested, set free, and then arrested again the next day. The marches were stopped by the head of police, "Bull" Connor, who brought fire hoses to ward off the children, and set police dogs after the children.

Malcolm X was opposed to the event because he thought it would expose the children to violence. He said: "Real men don't put their children on the firing line."

A pivotal civil rights campaign was fought in Birmingham, the most segregated city in the US. Fire hoses and dogs were used to prevent the students from meeting the mayor. The students remained nonviolent. This event prompted President John F. Kennedy to publicly support full racial equality, and led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Sources

Clayborne Carson, ed., The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., (New York, NY: Warner Books, Inc., 1998)
M. S. Handler, "Malcolm X Terms Dr. King’s Tactics Futile," New York Times, May 11, 1963

Folk music

Phil Ochs, song, Talking Birmingham Jam, performed at the Newport Folk Festival, July 26–28, 1963, released on Newport Broadside, 1964 and Live at Newport, 1966.
Children's Crusade in the King Encyclopedia
The Birmingham Campaign – Civil Rights Movement Veterans

1954–1959	Brown v. Board of Education Bolling v. Sharpe Briggs v. Elliott Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County Gebhart v. Belton Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company Emmett Till Montgomery Bus Boycott Browder v. Gayle Mansfield school desegregation 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom "Give Us the Ballot" Royal Ice Cream Sit-in Little Rock Nine National Guard blockade Civil Rights Act of 1957 Kissing Case Biloxi Wade-Ins

1960–1963	Greensboro sit-ins Nashville sit-ins Civil Rights Act of 1960 Gomillion v. Lightfoot Boynton v. Virginia Robert F. Kennedy's Law Day Address Freedom Rides attacks Garner v. Louisiana Albany Movement University of Chicago sit-ins "Second Emancipation Proclamation" Meredith enrollment, Ole Miss riot 1963 Birmingham campaign Children's Crusade Letter from Birmingham Jail Birmingham riot 16th Street Baptist Church bombing Stand in the Schoolhouse Door John F. Kennedy's Civil Rights Address March on Washington "I Have a Dream" St. Augustine movement "segregation now, segregation forever"

1964–1968	Twenty-fourth Amendment Bloody Tuesday Freedom Summer workers' murders Civil Rights Act of 1964 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches "How Long, Not Long" Voting Rights Act of 1965 Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections March Against Fear White House Conference on Civil Rights Chicago Freedom Movement/Chicago open housing movement Memphis Sanitation Strike King assassination funeral riots Poor People's Campaign Civil Rights Act of 1968

Activist
groups

Activists

Influences

Noted
historians

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.

Children's Crusade (1963)

See also

Sources

Further reading