The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is a civil rights organization founded in 1957, as an offshoot of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), which successfully staged a 381-day boycott of the Montgomery Alabama's segregated bus system. Martin Luther King, Jr., Bayard Rustin, Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth, and others, founded the SCLC in order to have a regional organization that could better coordinate civil rights protest activities across the South.
The SCLC was founded in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and advocated confrontation of segregation through civil dissent. This "direct action" included boycotts, marches, and other forms of nonviolent protest and was considered controversial by many in the black community, who felt that segregation should be challenged in the courts. The SCLC's leadership, most of whom were ministers, also believed that churches should be involved in political activism and held many of their meetings at black churches, which became important symbols in the battle for civil rights.
The organization quickly moved to the forefront of the civil rights movement alongside several other major civil rights groups collectively known as the "Big Five:" the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Urban League (NUL), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) .
From the beginning, the SCLC focused its efforts on citizenship schools and efforts to desegregate individual cities such as Albany, Georgia, Birmingham, Alabama, and St. Augustine, Florida. It played key roles in the March on Washington in 1963 and the Selma Voting Rights Campaign and March to Montgomery in 1965. The SCLC also broadened its focus to include issues of economic inequality, starting the Poor People's Campaign in 1967.
Martin Luther King, Jr. served as the organization's first president from its founding until his assassination in 1968. King was succeeded by Ralph Abernathy who served as president until 1977, and James Lowery who served until 1997. Today, the SCLC is still active as a national and international human rights organization.
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- Type: Article
Shaw University is a historically Black university located in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1865 Shaw was the first institution of higher education for African Americans in the southern United States.
- Type: Article
Historic West Hunter Street Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia is a stone sanctuary that formerly housed West Hunter Street Baptist Church. The congregation of West Hunter Street Baptist has a long history of civil rights activism in the city. Reverend Ralph David Abernathy, a confidante of Martin Luther King Jr, led the congregation and pastored in the building.
- Type: Article
- Locations: Lyndon B Johnson National Historical Park, Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
The SCLC was founded in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and advocated confrontation of segregation through civil dissent. From the beginning, the SCLC focused its efforts on citizenship schools and efforts to desegregate individual cities such as Albany, Georgia, Birmingham, Alabama, and St. Augustine, Florida. It played key roles in the March on Washington in 1963 and the Selma Voting Rights Campaign and March to Montgomery in 1965. The SCLC also broadened
- Selma To Montgomery National Historic Trail
Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth (1922-2011)
- Type: Person
- Locations: Selma To Montgomery National Historic Trail
Reverend Frederick Lee "Freddie" Shuttlesworth was a major leader in the civil rights movement. He was one of the founders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). In 1965, he helped organize the Selma to Montgomery marches as part of a voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama.
- Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park
Ebenezer - Heritage Sanctuary
- Type: Place
- Locations: Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park
Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church was the spiritual home of Martin Luther King, Jr. where he worshipped with his family, served as co-pastor with his Father Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr., and where his funeral was held on April 9,1968.
- Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument
The A.G. Gaston Motel and the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument
- Type: Article
- Locations: Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument
The A.G. Gaston Motel opened in 1954, built by prominent African American businessman and entrepreneur Arthur George Gaston. It was a significant site of civil rights activities in 1963, when it served as the headquarters of the campaign to desegregate public accommodations in Birmingham, Alabama. From the motel, leaders made critical decisions that advanced the cause of civil rights locally and shaped events and legislation nationally.
- Type: Person
Ralph David Abernathy was Martin Luther King Jr.'s confidant and friend and confidante. He was active in the African American civil rights movement, including working to found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
Last updated: December 6, 2022