Fred Shuttlesworth
Fred Shuttlesworth was a prominent civil rights leader and Baptist minister known for his unwavering commitment to social justice and equality. Born on March 18, 1922, in Mt. Meigs, Alabama, Shuttlesworth faced racial discrimination from an early age, which fueled his passion for activism. After obtaining his education and becoming a pastor, he co-founded the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) in 1956, playing a key role in challenging segregation laws in Birmingham. Shuttlesworth's notable actions included organizing protests, leading efforts for school integration, and providing shelter to Freedom Riders. He faced significant personal danger, including bombings of his home and church, yet remained steadfast in advocating for civil rights. His contributions were recognized through various honors, including a Presidential Citizens Medal from President Bill Clinton, and the Birmingham airport was renamed in his honor. Shuttlesworth's legacy continues to inspire future generations in the fight for equality.
Fred Shuttlesworth
- Born: March 18, 1922
- Birthplace: Mt. Meigs, Alabama
- Died: October 5, 2011
- Place of death: Birmingham, Alabama
Religious leader and activist
Shuttlesworth established the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, guided civil rights activism in Birmingham, Alabama, and assisted demonstrators protesting segregation. His efforts contributed to the passage of federal legislation, most notably the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. Shuttlesworth also developed programs to help homeless people find homes.
Early Life
Fred Shuttlesworth was born on March 18, 1922, in Mt. Meigs, Alabama, east of the state capital Montgomery. He was born Freddie Lee Robinson to parents Vetter Greene and Alberta Robinson. His mother later relocated with her children to an African American neighborhood in Oxmoor, Alabama, and raised them in the African Methodist Episcopal faith. When Shuttlesworth was four years old, his mother married William Nathan Shuttlesworth, a coal miner and sharecropper. Shuttlesworth studied at Oxmoor School, where principal Israel L. Ramsey’s confidence, religious faith, and courage impressed him. He frequently encountered discrimination against African Americans in his community and was frustrated by that unjust treatment.
Working part time to supplement his family’s income, Shuttlesworth excelled scholastically at Rosedale High School, graduating as valedictorian in May 1940. Employed by the Southern Club in Birmingham as an orderly, he married coworker Ruby Lanette Keeler, an aspiring nurse, on October 20, 1941. During the next decade, they had three daughters—Patricia, Ruby Fredericka, and Carolyn—and one son, Fred Jr. In April 1943, Shuttlesworth left Jefferson County for Mobile, Alabama, where he drove trucks on Brookley Air Force Base, performing World War II–related assignments. Shuttlesworth worshiped at the local Corinthian Baptist Church and occasionally delivered sermons. He enrolled in the Cedar Grove Academy Bible College at Prichard, Alabama, before moving to Selma in 1947 for educational opportunities.
Life’s Work
Shuttlesworth began studies at Selma University, then enrolled in courses at Alabama State College at Montgomery in September 1949. The next month, the First African Baptist Church in Selma asked Shuttlesworth to serve as pastor. In August 1952, he graduated from Alabama State. Later that year, he moved to Birmingham to become pastor at Bethel Baptist Church.
The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision inspired Shuttlesworth to become involved in civil rights activism. He participated in the Montgomery Improvement Association and was membership secretary for the Alabama branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). After a circuit judge limited NAACP work in Alabama, Shuttlesworth created the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) in 1956, serving as president through 1969.
In December 1956, when the US Supreme Court ruled that segregation on Montgomery buses was illegal, Shuttlesworth announced that the ACMHR would challenge Birmingham laws enforcing bus segregation. On December 25, 1956, Ku Klux Klansmen bombed Shuttlesworth’s house. In 1957, Shuttlesworth became a founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He served as secretary of that group from 1958 to 1970. Shuttlesworth was attacked again when he arrived at segregated Phillips High School, attempting to enroll his daughters in September 1957. On June 29, 1958, he endured a second bombing at his church. However, he persisted in his demands for integrated buses, schools, and parks and was arrested in October 1959 for his outspokenness and actions.
Shuttlesworth sheltered Freedom Riders in his home after they were attacked at Birmingham’s bus terminal in 1961. That year, he was named pastor of the Revelation Baptist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. In the spring of 1963, he returned to Birmingham to help the SCLC organize sit-ins at downtown department stores. Thousands of African Americans marched to protest racism and were met with violent opposition. Images of attacks on demonstrators provoked President John F. Kennedy to support a federal civil rights bill; he discussed that legislation with Shuttlesworth. On September 4, 1963, Shuttlesworth walked with Birmingham African American students on the first day city schools were integrated. He also spoke in Selma and helped organize the voting-rights march from Selma to Montgomery in March 1965.
In January 1966, Shuttlesworth formed the Greater New Light Baptist Church, where he remained until his retirement forty years later. He created the Shuttlesworth Housing Foundation in 1989, offering grants to help people purchase homes. Shuttlesworth helped establish the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) in 1992 and served on its board of directors. During the early twenty-first century, Shuttlesworth served briefly as SCLC president. In September 2010, he and his daughters spoke to students at the school where they had been assaulted.
Shuttlesworth died at the age of eighty-nine on October 5, 2011, in Birmingham; he had reportedly been in ill health and had suffered a stroke a few years earlier.
Significance
Shuttlesworth empowered African Americans through his leadership and activism for integration. Many of his contemporaries, particularly Martin Luther King Jr., considered Shuttlesworth among the bravest of the civil rights leaders because of his unrelenting efforts in the face of threats and violent attacks. In 1992, a statue of Shuttlesworth was placed outside the BCRI. President Bill Clinton presented him with a Presidential Citizens Medal in 2001 in recognition of his contributions to the civil rights movement. Since 2002, the BCRI has presented the annual Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award, its highest honor, to people who exemplify his qualities and ideals. The International Civil Rights Walk of Fame inducted Shuttlesworth in 2005 and in 2008, the city of Birmingham's main airport was renamed as the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. His ministry and foundation also had a significant impact over the years.
Bibliography
Arsenault, Raymond. Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice. Oxford UP, 2006.
Manis, Andrew M. A Fire You Can’t Put Out: The Civil Rights Life of Birmingham’s Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth. U of Alabama P, 1999.
Nordheimer, Jon. "Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth, an Elder Statesman for Civil Rights, Dies at 89." The New York Times, 5 Oct. 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/us/rev-fred-l-shuttlesworth-civil-rights-leader-dies-at-89.html. Accessed 15 Nov. 2017.
White, Marjorie L. A Walk to Freedom: The Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, 1956–1964. Birmingham Historical Society, 1998.
White, Marjorie L., and Andrew M. Manis, editors. Birmingham Revolutionaries: The Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Mercer UP, 2000.