Timeline of Martin Luther King Jr in Birmingham

This is a Timeline of Martin Luther King Jr in Birmingham, documenting the civil rights leader's visits to what he described (paraphrasing Anne Braden) as "the most segregated city in America."

Timeline

• January 23, 1955: King headlined a Birmingham NAACP meeting at Tabernacle Baptist Church, delivering a speech entitled "A Realistic Approach to Race Relations."

• March 7, 1956: Four months into the Montgomery Bus Boycott, King visited Birmingham to meet with Baltimore Afro-American columnist William Worthy and activist Bayard Rustin, both veterans of the 1947 "Journey of Reconciliation" to develop non-violent strategies for achieving the Montgomery Improvement Association's aims.

• March 6, 1960: King was the featured speaker for "Men's Day" at Nelson Smith's New Pilgrim Baptist Church in South Titusville.

• February 12, 1962: King spoke at an Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights event in honor of Abraham Lincoln's birthday at 16th Street Baptist Church. Fred Shuttlesworth did not attend because he was in jail at the time.

• September 24–28, 1962: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference held its annual conference in Birmingham. During a closing address at L. R. Hall Auditorium, King was punched in the face by American Nazi Party member Roy James of Arlington, Virginia. Ralph Abernathy and Wyatt Tee Walker intervened, and others calmed the crowd. King spoke briefly with James afterward and declined to press criminal charges. Nevertheless, public safety commissioner Bull Connor prosecuted James for assault. Judge Charles Brown sentenced him to 30 days. Rosa Parks, in attendance at the conference, was deeply moved by King's demonstration of non-violence.

1963 Birmingham campaign

• April 2, 1963: King arrived in Birmingham for the Birmingham Campaign, taking a suite at the A. G. Gaston Motel which became a meeting place for organizers.
• April 3, 1963: King and James Lawson addressed a group of 65 demonstrators about to stage sit-ins at 5 downtown lunch counters.
• April 4, 1963: King led a small march to Birmingham City Hall and addressed a mass meeting at St James Baptist Church.
• April 12, 1963: King, Ralph Abernathy and Fred Shuttlesworth led a "Good Friday March" despite a court order issued the previous day forbidding "boycotting, trespassing, parading, picketing, sit-ins, kneel-ins, wade-ins, and inciting or encouraging such acts." He and 52 other demonstrators were arrested.
• April 12–20, 1963: King used his time in solitary confinement to compose "Letter from Birmingham Jail" as a response to a public letter signed by 8 white clergymen which was published in the Saturday edition of The Birmingham News.
• April 20, 1963: With funds largely provided by Harry Belafonte, King made bail and was released.
• April 30, 1963: King acceded to a plan by James Bevel to train school-age children for unpermitted demonstrations. At a mass meeting he exclaimed that "If they think today is the end of this, they will be badly mistaken."
• May 7, 1963: King led a press conference in the courtyard of the A. G. Gaston Motel to report that the campaign had succeeded in filling the jails, and that more marches were planned.
• May 8, 1963: Following another press conference announcing a pause in demonstrating to allow for negotiations, King and Shuttlesworth were arrested again for failure to pay fines due for having paraded without permits. A. G. Gaston provided $10,000 to bail them out the same day.
• May 10: King and Shuttlesworth held another press conference to announce the Birmingham Truce and an end to the campaign, which included the release of non-violent protesters.

Later events

King in Jefferson County Jail serving a 5-day sentence for contempt in October–November 1967

• August 5, 1963: King was in attendance for the "Salute to Freedom '63" concert at Miles College, which raised funds for the planned "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom" on August 28.

• September 18, 1963: King delivered the eulogy at a joint funeral at Sixth Avenue Baptist Church for Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Denise McNair, who were killed in the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church the previous Sunday.

• October 30–November 3, 1967: King, joined by Abernathy, Walker and A. D. King, surrendered at the Jefferson County Jail to serve 5-day sentences for contempt of court related to the 1963 Birmingham Campaign.

See also

• Timeline of the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham

References

• "Police Brutality in Birmingham Charged: Negro Minister Speaks at Funeral" (September 23, 1963) Associated Press
• Parr, Patrick (January 18, 2021) "When a Nazi punched Dr. King: A story about radicalism, violence and helping unify America." New York Daily News
• Michaels, Ryan (January 15, 2024) "MLK Jr. Made Dozens of Visits to Birmingham That Became Part of His Legacy." The Birmingham Times