1964 Billy Graham Easter Rally
Evangelist Billy Graham's 1964 Easter Rally or United Evangelistic Rally was held at Legion Field on Easter Sunday, March 19, 1964.
Graham delivered a sermon on "The Great Reconciliation":
- It is a wonderful thing to gather together like this in the city of Birmingham, in the name of Jesus Christ, on Easter Day. Somehow all our problems and difficulties seem not quite so great when we stand at the foot of the cross and hear Him say, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do'."1.
Cliff Barrows directed the combined choirs. Platform guests included Arthur P. Cooke, J. L. Ware, John Drew, members of the Birmingham City Council and others.
The Jefferson County Citizens Council protested the event. Police heavily patrolled the streets around Legion Field. Birmingham police, Alabama State Troopers and plainclothes officers surrounded the field, spaced about 10 feet apart on the track. It is assumed that the potential for violence limited the size of the crowd. The crowd of 35,000 was about evenly split between whites and blacks. It was reported to be the "largest integrated audience in the state's history." Event staff counted 4,000 individuals who answered Graham's concluding invitation to accept Christ as savior.
The national press reported the event as evidence of Birmingham moving beyond the days of violent conflict over integration.
References
- Wirt, Sherwood Eliot (1997) Billy: A Personal Look at the World's Best Loved Evangelist. Crossway Books.
- Miller, Steven P. (Winter 2007) "'Another Kind of March': Billy Graham in Civil Rights Era Alabama." Alabama Heritage. No. 83, p. 41-48.
- Martin, William (1991) A Prophet with Honor: The Billy Graham Story. New York: William Morrow.