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http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/digitalcollections/files/original/21/54/skylab30anniv150_[1].mp4
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Skylab Collection
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1973-1979
Relation
A related resource
https://libguides.uah.edu/ld.php?content_id=10578214<br /><br /><a href="http://libarchstor.uah.edu:8081/repositories/2/resources/80">View the Skylab Collection finding aid on ArchivesSpace</a>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Skylab Collection
Description
An account of the resource
Skylab was the first space station operated by NASA; it was launched without a crew on May 14, 1973. Skylab had three manned missions: Skylab 2, launched May 25, 1973, lasting 28 days, Skylab 3, launched July 28, 1973, lasting 60 days, and Skylab 4, launched November 16, 1973, lasting 84 days. Crews on Skylab conducted a variety of experiments during their missions, including experiments in human physiology, circadian rhythms, solar physics and astronomy, and material sciences. Important earth resources studies were conducting including studies on geology, hurricanes, and land and vegetation patterns.
Two of the more important components for conducting research on Skylab were the Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM) and the Earth Resources Experiment Package (EREP). The ATM was a multi-spectral solar observatory, and NASA’s first full-scale manned astronomical observatory in space. The ATM yielded a significant number of images and provided useful data for understanding our sun. The EREP provided thousands of images of the Earth’s surface in visible, infrared, and microwave spectral regions.
Skylab remained in orbit, unoccupied after the Skylab 4 mission, until July 11, 1973, when the space station reentered Earth’s atmosphere.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylab#Manned_missions
https://www.nasa.gov/missions/shuttle/f_skylab1.html
https://history.nasa.gov/SP-402/ch4.htm
Moving Image
A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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"SkyLab: An Oral History of America's First Space Station."
Subject
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Skylab Program
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
George C. Marshall Space Flight Center
Von Braun Symposium
Skylab 30th anniversary
Description
An account of the resource
This video was released in conjunction with Skylab's 30th anniversary in 2003. It contains video footage from the Skylab program as well as interviews with those associated with the program.
Creator
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George C. Marshall Space Flight Center
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2003
Rights
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This material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though the University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.
Language
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en
Identifier
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skylab30anniv150
Coverage
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||||osm
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
2000-2009
Source
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Skylab Collection
University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives, Huntsville, Alabama
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Interviews
Moving Image
Oral History
-
http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/digitalcollections/files/original/32/218/shuttlesworth.jpg
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http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/digitalcollections/files/original/32/218/Tape5.mp4
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Lecture Series on Civil Rights in Alabama, 1954-1965
Relation
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<a href="http://libarchstor.uah.edu:8081/repositories/2/resources/21" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">View the Lecture Series on Civil Rights in Alabama, 1954-1965 finding aid in ArchivesSpace</a>
Identifier
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Lecture Series on Civil Rights in Alabama, 1954-1965
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
OHMS Object
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Viewer)
http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/ohms-viewer/render.php?cachefile=uah_civr_000001.xml
OHMS Object Text
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contents of the OHMS object searchable in Omeka
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<ROOT xmlns="https://www.weareavp.com/nunncenter/ohms" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="https://www.weareavp.com/nunncenter/ohms/ohms.xsd"><record id="00090444" dt="2022-07-14"><version>5.4</version><date value="2001-10-11" format="yyyy-mm-dd"/><date_nonpreferred_format></date_nonpreferred_format><cms_record_id></cms_record_id><title>VHS tape of "Trial by Fire and Water: Birmingham, 1963" (Part I).</title><accession></accession><duration></duration><collection_id></collection_id><collection_name>Lecture Series on Civil Rights in Alabama, 1954-1965</collection_name><series_id></series_id><series_name></series_name><repository>UAH Archives and Special Collections</repository><funding></funding><repository_url /><interviewee>Fred Shuttlesworth</interviewee><file_name>Tape5.mp4</file_name><sync>1:|2(13)|10(11)|18(3)|25(12)|33(12)|40(1)|48(3)|53(2)|59(13)|68(11)|76(11)|85(11)|92(12)|99(12)|106(6)|114(2)|121(9)|129(5)|137(2)|141(5)|147(8)|156(2)|165(7)|174(10)|185(12)|192(2)|201(7)|210(14)|222(9)|230(8)|241(11)|247(7)|257(15)|269(9)|277(7)|284(13)|291(11)|300(10)|310(3)|319(11)|329(10)|337(12)|346(14)|356(3)|364(9)|373(9)|381(17)|388(13)|396(10)|403(12)|413(5)|423(17)|433(17)|444(15)|454(8)|461(1)|467(5)|471(67)|471(217)</sync><sync_alt></sync_alt><transcript_alt_lang></transcript_alt_lang><translate>0</translate><media_id></media_id><media_url>http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/digitalcollections/files/original/32/218/Tape5.mp4</media_url><mediafile><host>Other</host><avalon_target_domain></avalon_target_domain><host_account_id></host_account_id><host_player_id></host_player_id><host_clip_id></host_clip_id><clip_format>video</clip_format></mediafile><kembed></kembed><language></language><user_notes></user_notes><index><point><time>0</time><title>Welcome</title><title_alt></title_alt><partial_transcript></partial_transcript><partial_transcript_alt></partial_transcript_alt><synopsis></synopsis><synopsis_alt></synopsis_alt><keywords></keywords><keywords_alt></keywords_alt><subjects></subjects><subjects_alt></subjects_alt><gpspoints><gps></gps><gps_zoom></gps_zoom><gps_text></gps_text><gps_text_alt></gps_text_alt></gpspoints><hyperlinks><hyperlink></hyperlink><hyperlink_text></hyperlink_text><hyperlink_text_alt></hyperlink_text_alt></hyperlinks></point><point><time>380</time><title>Introduction of Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth</title><title_alt></title_alt><partial_transcript></partial_transcript><partial_transcript_alt></partial_transcript_alt><synopsis></synopsis><synopsis_alt></synopsis_alt><keywords></keywords><keywords_alt></keywords_alt><subjects></subjects><subjects_alt></subjects_alt><gpspoints><gps></gps><gps_zoom></gps_zoom><gps_text></gps_text><gps_text_alt></gps_text_alt></gpspoints><hyperlinks><hyperlink></hyperlink><hyperlink_text></hyperlink_text><hyperlink_text_alt></hyperlink_text_alt></hyperlinks></point><point><time>723</time><title>Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth Lecture: Injustices of the Era (September 11 and Cincinnati Unrest) and Civil Rights</title><title_alt></title_alt><partial_transcript></partial_transcript><partial_transcript_alt></partial_transcript_alt><synopsis></synopsis><synopsis_alt></synopsis_alt><keywords></keywords><keywords_alt></keywords_alt><subjects></subjects><subjects_alt></subjects_alt><gpspoints><gps></gps><gps_zoom></gps_zoom><gps_text></gps_text><gps_text_alt></gps_text_alt></gpspoints><hyperlinks><hyperlink></hyperlink><hyperlink_text></hyperlink_text><hyperlink_text_alt></hyperlink_text_alt></hyperlinks></point><point><time>1745</time><title>Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth Lecture: Justice, Civil Rights, and Organized Religion</title><title_alt></title_alt><partial_transcript></partial_transcript><partial_transcript_alt></partial_transcript_alt><synopsis></synopsis><synopsis_alt></synopsis_alt><keywords></keywords><keywords_alt></keywords_alt><subjects></subjects><subjects_alt></subjects_alt><gpspoints><gps></gps><gps_zoom></gps_zoom><gps_text></gps_text><gps_text_alt></gps_text_alt></gpspoints><hyperlinks><hyperlink></hyperlink><hyperlink_text></hyperlink_text><hyperlink_text_alt></hyperlink_text_alt></hyperlinks></point><point><time>2380</time><title>Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth: Biblical Justice and the Birmingham Movement</title><title_alt></title_alt><partial_transcript></partial_transcript><partial_transcript_alt></partial_transcript_alt><synopsis></synopsis><synopsis_alt></synopsis_alt><keywords></keywords><keywords_alt></keywords_alt><subjects></subjects><subjects_alt></subjects_alt><gpspoints><gps></gps><gps_zoom></gps_zoom><gps_text></gps_text><gps_text_alt></gps_text_alt></gpspoints><hyperlinks><hyperlink></hyperlink><hyperlink_text></hyperlink_text><hyperlink_text_alt></hyperlink_text_alt></hyperlinks></point><point><time>4625</time><title>Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth Q&A</title><title_alt></title_alt><partial_transcript></partial_transcript><partial_transcript_alt></partial_transcript_alt><synopsis></synopsis><synopsis_alt></synopsis_alt><keywords></keywords><keywords_alt></keywords_alt><subjects></subjects><subjects_alt></subjects_alt><gpspoints><gps></gps><gps_zoom></gps_zoom><gps_text></gps_text><gps_text_alt></gps_text_alt></gpspoints><hyperlinks><hyperlink></hyperlink><hyperlink_text></hyperlink_text><hyperlink_text_alt></hyperlink_text_alt></hyperlinks></point></index><type></type><description></description><rel /><transcript>Introduction: Our speaker for tonight is the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth. You
will hear more about him from the person who will introduce him. I want to make
just a few comments about the way in which the programs have taken place up to
this point. Last week we did not have a lecture. I am not sure if that was
clearly stated at the program the week before last. There may have been some
confusion. At least I heard some were a little bit confused. In fact we had a
program at the State Black Archives last Thursday. Some of the people showed up
at the State Black Archives. They said to me, "Is this where the symposium is
going to be?" I told them there was no way we could accommodate the numbers that
we have had at this symposium here at our place. We can only accommodate about
fifty in there. I'm very sorry that there was some misunderstanding. I think
there may have been at least a statement made but perhaps it was not emphasized
as clearly as it should have been or perhaps the emphasis was not as great as it
should have been. If you had looked at your schedule, you would have noticed
that there was no notation for October 4. That was because UAH had a small break
last week. That is the reason why it is not scheduled for the brochure. We
apologize for any inconvenience. We hope that you will forgive us for not making
that clear. However, tonight I would like for you to be sure to note that next
week's program will be at UAH. It will be at the same place and at the same
time. However, the next two programs from the campus of Alabama A&M, that is
October 25 th . If you have your pencils and you want to make a note on your
brochure, you can. October 25 th and November 8 th will be in this place, which
is the West campus center and the Ernest L. Knight reception area. If you are
coming from Meridian, come to the second light. Tum right or turn left. There
are plenty of parking areas just across the street in the parking area where the
post office is. There is some parking also on this side, if you turn left. All
you have to do is remember to proceed to the second light after the Chase Road
and then turn left or right. It will be the building across from the post
office. Is that clear to everyone? The next two programs on the campus of
Alabama A&M, October 11 and October 25 and November 8, there are three of these
and John L. Lewis will be here. We hope that some of the matters that are
keeping the conference occupied will not prevent him from coming. We hope that
he will be able to be here. Keep that in mind. I would like to acknowledge the
planning committee that has been responsible for each program. Dr Mitch
Berbrier, John Dimmock, Lee Williams and Dr. Jack Ellis from UAH; Professor
Carolyn Parker, who is not able to be here tonight, she is out of town, and
myself, from Alabama A&M, and of course crucial contributions are made by Joyce
Maples and Mr. Charles Wood. We do want to acknowledge their contribution and
the committee as a whole. I would like for Dr. Lee Williams to come forth and
acknowledge the people who are responsible for this series. Pastor of St. John
AME Church and a professor here at Alabama A&M University, will introduce Dr.
Shuttlesworth. Thank you.
Introduction continued: Thank you very much Dr. Williams. To Dr. Johnson and to
all of the committee of the Civil Rights Movements Symposium, and to all of the
underwriters, distinguished guests, visitors and friends, the entire Alabama
University family, it is a distinct honor and privilege to introduce the speaker
this evening. He is one whom I can truthfully and sincerely state, his times are
in God's hands. Paraphrased from Psalms 31: 15, "My times are in thy hands."
Circumstances and events in this life for eighty years, this March, I believe.
He has had fifty-eight years of ministry and thirty-six years at Greater New
Life Baptist Church in Cincinnati. He has been living eighty years on this
planet earth. He will introduce himself through his testimony tonight; a
testimony with heritage rich in the African-American experience; a heritage rich
in his love for America; a heritage rich in its primary base, a spiritual base.
We thank God for that rich heritage that is so needed for such a time as this.
Yes, we could talk about his long devotion, his personal history, human rights,
and justice ranging from Selma University and Alabama State with a Bachelor in
Science Degree, but he does not want me to talk about that. Even about 1956
where Alabama politicians outlawed the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People. In response to that act, a group of ministers under the
leadership of Reverend Shuttlesworth came together to organize the Alabama
Christian Movement for Human Rights. He was a very close ally of Dr. King. With
the personality of confrontation, he became known and honored as Birmingham's
Civil Rights Leader. He was able to help and join together with Dr. Martin
Luther King and others to form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He
was devoted to nonviolence. He conducted leadership training programs. We can
read the whole history of this association with attorney general Kennedy along
with his love for human rights and justice. He was beaten with clubs and chains
when he tried to enroll his children in an all white high school and in 1961 he
moved to Cincinnati. He founded the Greater New Life Baptist Church in 1966
where he continues to serve as pastor. It's no question that they honored him on
March 10th through 17th of 2002, for thirty-six years of faithful service,
fifty-eight years in the ministry. He does not even look like he is eighty years
old. When I grow up I want to be like that. We look forward to a treat tonight
and I am sure that when we have the impact, not only of what happened at the
Unity Breakfast some years ago. He took us to the mountaintop. I am sure that by
the grace of God he will carry us to another level tonight. He always says that
he can't go any further than the people who are praying for him. I would like
for you to greet him with attentive ears, open hearts and raised disposition for
Birmingham's Civil Rights leader who comes to not only give us inspiration but
also his dedication for years of fervent commitment, not only to human rights
but social justice as a Christian creature who has not denied nor cut himself
away from his ethnicity, spirituality and politics of confrontation. It is my
privilege now to present to you the Reverend Doctor Fred Shuttlesworth, the
Pastor of Greater New Life Baptist Church.
Fred Shuttlesworth: That is a great introduction son. Thank you very much. That
was a great introduction Dr. Williams, Johnson, all the members of the faculties
of these institutions. I assure you that after that beautiful introduction, I
feel a little better than I did before. I was sitting there thinking about how
this is my eighteenth hour. I had to get up at four o'clock this morning. I must
commend the program. This is the first program in which I have ever been
introduced as you get to the heart of the program this quickly. I don't know if
you knew my sufferings or not, but I assure you I won't be all night. I am
reminded of that young boy whose mother wanted him to go and hear a professor
speak. This professor was noted for speaking a long time. In the audience, most
people would go to sleep while he would be speaking. When any of us would talk,
he would sleep. This young boy had to not only be pleaded with but she started
patting him a little bit with a switch. He was burning and seething. The
professor at the college would notice and just look over the audience, maybe
forty-five seconds, or more than a minute and he couldn't come up with anything.
After a while he would say, "I can't think of nothing to talk about." The little
boy would say, "Talk for about a minute and sit down." I may take a little more
than a minute since it would be unfair to you to have that great introduction
and I don't say anything. This is a great time to be alive and I appreciate the
instructional purpose of the programs that you are having, trying to get people
to understand that we have a great heritage. We have a great opportunity to do
something despite the uncertainty of the times in which we live and despite the
fact many people don't appreciate many of the things that happened to make the
change that we have had. This is a challenging time to be alive, both for people
who are in college and out of college. I thought a little bit about the times in
which we live. You all are interested in where I have been and what I have been
doing. I admit I have been into some things and I can put that into one sentence
to sort of put a critique on it. Paul the Apostle in writing to Timothy said
some words that seem to fit for what I have tried to do and what I am doing.
First Timothy Chapter 1 Verse 12 says, "Timothy, I thank God for putting me into
this ministry and sustaining me." I may make that the core of what I want to
speak about tonight. I wish I could speak to your satisfaction on the Birmingham
Movement. The Birmingham Movement should mean much more than it does to most
people. If we could use that as a taking off point to something better. If we
talk about the Birmingham movement and not be inspired from what happened then,
not when I was in it but because of the sacrifice of the people even down to the
children who made as great a sacrifice as if they were soldiers on a foreign
battlefield. That ought to challenge us today to go ahead and finish up the
work. It should challenge us to look at our country, love it, and make sure it
moves forward with this business of brotherhood and justice. I wish I could just
talk about some of the beautiful things that happened in the movement and some
of the terrible things. I know that you have had Diane Nash, one of the stalwart
young ladies. If not for her and the Nashville movement, the freedom riders
would have died on the ground in Birmingham; that is, there would have been no
progress. I wish I could take time and tell you about Robert Kennedy, the
president's brother and the many activities and many conversations that I had
with him, especially as it related to continuing the freedom rides. Maybe we can
cover some of that in the question and answer period, and in demonstrations,
seven years before sixty-two, we suffered so much. We caught a lot of
deprivation. I often think of the song that the people used to sing, Way Down
Yonder By Myself, I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray. Before I say anything more, I
would like to release what happened after 9/11. Everybody knows what that is,
don't you? That was the day when everyone needed to not call on the police but
call on the Lord. I am a person who believes that you can't just let things roll
on. Things change because people change things. I must say to you that the
world, if it is to be changed, it will be changed by people whom the world
itself cannot change, so I hope I can challenge you in this great city where the
rocket center is your foundational basis here. Leading with outer space, where
we haven't conquered inner space yet. I would like to read this release, then we
will say some words and sit down. I was in California and of course none of us
could fly back so I had to stay in California for three extra days. In all of
what has happened to me, I don't think I have seen anything as tragic as those
planes flying into those tall buildings that represented the greatness of
America, the wishes of America, the center of trade in the world. I tried to get
about five minutes of sleep by turning the television off but I couldn't go to
sleep just thinking about it. No one could look at that with any sensibility and
not have some sort of feeling. Many people had a wrong feeling about it. Let me
just read this. This is the reason I wrote an article in California for the
paper. "Under no circumstance could any American with any degree of loyalty to
humanity or America condone the inhuman and dastardly destruction of buildings,
lives and property in New York and Washington DC. Our nation has indeed been
partially humiliated by this terrorist attack. We hope and pray that it has also
become more humbled before God. America responded in military and diplomatic
strengths to those who destroyed so much property and so very many innocent
lives. America will also now move with the same degree of arousement and
determination to attack racism and injustice within, with the same and truly
beneficial results to al I segments and levels of American life. We are all
Americans, hopefully loyal and loving Americans. However much we question and
disagree with the disputed election of President Bush, we do truly urge all
Americans to join one thousand and one percent in prayer for support of his
effort to secure, lift the spirits, and encourage the lives of all Americans in
this critical hour. God help us to come together and totally sacrifice together
when we are not in crisis as we are now doing always together the things in
unity of spirit as we are doing in this crucial hour. We saw everybody digging
and pulling and helping and suffering and bleeding, and dying together. That's
what Americanism ought to be about. I say this from the bottom of my heart and
in the spirit of God who loves his own. Yes, in the spirit of Martin Luther King
Jr., whom God sent to speak the spirit of nonviolence and unity to America and
to the world. In this our day of violence, hatred and meanness, only Satan is
the enemy of all mankind. All men are brothers and should act brotherly despite
racial and ethnic distinction. God is love and in His Spirit, someday we will
soon overcome the evils of this perilous moment. God bless America and God bless
each one of us." That was the statement.
I was getting ready to go somewhere. I was actually running out the door when I
heard that the judge that dismissed the sentence against the policeman who would
not have been given anything but nine months anyway, if he was given a sentence
at all, after killing this man. It was a minor charge. I thought of how the
system can be so light on certain people and so heavy on others. I thought I
should have something to say. I have lived long enough to know that if you say
nothing and do nothing the life will mean nothing. I was about to run out but my
secretary happened to have the radio on. When J heard that I couldn't believe
it. Serving nine months for killing a man is nothing. If this was a poor man or
a black man, nine years wouldn't have been enough. The following is what I
wrote. "The not guilty verdict of the court for Officer Steven Roach who
wantonly shot and killed Timothy Thomas, is typical of Cincinnati justice. You
know where Cincinnati is, don't you? It is as far South as you can get being in
the North, where the treatment of blacks by policemen is concerned. It is very
close to rulings by Southern segregation judges who felt blacks had no rights
that policemen had to respect. I am a living witness to that. This verdict,
following a series of unnecessary killings of several blacks by policeman and
numerous investigations by officials, can only mean that Cincinnati had been and
still is stuck in the mud of racism and injustice. Right is right and wrong is
wrong no matter who does it. This city, its prosecutors and its courts can never
find any punishable wrong done by its police department where blacks and
minorities are concerned. As painful and as hurtful as the decision to the
morale of the black and poor community, we must continue to give proper respect
to officers of the law, in spite of this decision and the long unholy record of
injustice in this city. Let us hope in faith and nonviolence that the national
tragedy of September 11 th will humble America and Cincinnati, to look within
our souls and eliminate racism, injustice and mistreatment of minorities, even
as America now arms itself to root out terrorism in the world and establish the
rule of law. Anything short of equal and exact justice in the same circumstance
done to any individual, regardless of color or status, is very close to terror
itself. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. God bless America and God
bless Cincinnati and may the day speedily come when all men, regardless of
position, stand equally before the Lord. They can enjoy freedom, justice and
fair play."
I thought I should read that as a sort of taking off point here tonight, as we
think about one or two lessons from the Civil Rights Movement that can be good
for today's affairs. My friends, I am convinced that this is God's world no
matter what. I believe that from the bottom of my heart. In fact, when Bull
Conner was talking about me I said, "Mr. Conner, this is not your world! This is
God's world." I quoted to him that the deeds to this world is written in the
twenty-fourth Psalm where it reads, "The earth is the Lord's." I said, "Your
name is nowhere around it." This is God's world. God loves all of His people. At
sunder times, periodically, God moves in human history to change conditions in
human lives. I am also convinced that God is The God, not a God, but "The God".
There is only one you all know. He is the God of love and mercy, as most people
love to say. He is also the God of justice, which most people don't say. It is
fotmd in Psalms 88: 14. You may read it when you go home. It talks about God's
throne. Psalms ninety-seven talks about it also. They both speak of how God's
throne sits on two pillars. One of the pillars is justice and the other is
righteousness. You see, whoever speaks and does not talk about justice, is not
talking too much or rightly about Mr. God. He is a God of justice. We need in
this day like in old times, the preachers, the prophets, the church and the
leaders to thunder out the words, "let justice roll down like water and
righteousness. We need that to be emphasized today.
No one can preach or teach about God unless one talks of justice, even from the
prophets who said let justice roll down etc. and the longstanding weakness of
the church. I am not going to ask how many people here belong to a church
because I don't want to hear any untruths in here. The tabernacle, the mosque,
in other words organized religion because organized religion, based on the
spirit of God, is God's army. God and an army is a fighting instrument. Am I
right? An army is trained to fight. Folk in the church should be disciplined to
fight. Most folks in the church think that we are in a picnic and not a fight.
God's movement is to overcome injustice and unrighteousness, whether it is in
the government or in the streets. We don't emphasize this. We are supposed to
teach, preach and talk that. No wonder Dr. Martin Luther King said the church is
much more like a taillight than a head light on a car.
I am going to tell the story about this man who was running late for an
appointment. You all were on time. You are to be commended. This man was driving
his car to an instructional convention. He was running late because he was doing
something. The crowd he was supposed to lead just went on without him. There
were several carloads that went ahead. He was trying to hurry up when he
realized he didn't have much gas. He rushed to the filling station and said to
the man, "Fill it up real quick. Put some gas in here real quick." At that time
they had just got this thing where you could put the gas and let it be running
while you do something else, so the man was very nice. He tried to do a little
courtesy, you know, wipe his windshield off and checking the air in his tires.
He was not concerned about that though. He wanted his gas so he could just go
because he was already late. After awhile he told the guy, "Look fellow, I am
late. Hurry up and put the gas in. Did you see some folks in about ten cars go
along here a few minutes ago?" The man said, "Yes". He said, "Well hurry up
because I am leading those folks.
In the affairs of the world, the church is leading those folks, but say nothing.
Indeed the letter from the Birmingham jail was written in response to high
officials, not just ordinary preachers, but bishops and rabbis who talked with
the conscience of God. I guess that is what they thought. We were put in jail.
Police began to beat us. They commended the police. They suggested that we
should just be quiet. Isn't that the voice now of evil when people protest?
Isn't it the same thing? The system has changed since the time when God said to
Moses, go down and tell Pharaoh. You should read Genesis. The first Civil Rights
Conference was called, not in Chicago, as people think, but in a midnight desert
between God and Moses. There were only two of them there around the burning
bush. It was right there where God said some things that I think we would
refresh ourselves and remind ourselves and really do better as we listen again.
Read it again when you go home. God did a strange thing on September 11 °1 to
get our attention. He just set a bush afire. Well maybe if we let him set bushes
afire instead of setting buildings afire, we would do better. He said, "Moses I
am the God". God always makes it plain that he is the only one. Whatever name
you call him he is the God of your problem. You have to think of God with
antiquity in your mind. Did I not say that right or what? I thought I was doing
something wrong. God said, "I am the God". That's not my thought though. God
said, "I have seen the afflictions of my people". That's where we get this thing
from that we say in church "God sees". Let's believe that. I have heard their
groans and I have come down to deliver them". Our God is a God of deliverance
from whatever will hold us down or back. God says, "I see, I know and I am
here". He said another word that too many preachers leave out. God did not come.
He said to Moses, "I will send you to Pharaoh. I will tell you what to tell
him". God is so big and powerful. He can tell you what he is going to do
different from what he is sending you to do. He said, "I am going to harden
Pharaoh's heart but you still do your job". I think that is where we miss the
point. This is a sermon. I am a preacher and it may sound like I am preaching.
The church and people always have excuses. They're always saying what they can't
do. What can you do? God basically said to Moses, "Well who made your mouth
since you think you can't talk. To help you out I will send your brother with
you but Moses you are responsible." Our job is to go to Pharaoh. Pharaoh has a
voice. This might be a good thought to remember. The voice of Pharaoh then, was
not much different from the voice of Pharaoh now. Pharaoh is the system no
matter who is in it, whether they are black or white.
Black folks have been in the system most times. We are a little involved in it
now. If we aren't careful, we won't have to be in it long before we are like the
system. When Moses went down to Pharaoh, he was nervous. "Mr. Pharaoh, ugh, I am
here." Pharaoh said, "What's your name? God told Moses to say, "Tell him I am".
Moses had never heard that. One preacher was philosophizing. This preacher felt
Moses went down to Pharaoh and said, "Well God said let his people go. I am is
my God." Some people call this spiritual imagination. He said Pharaoh said, "I
am? Who is the Lord that I should obey? In allegiance, I am that I am." Moses
went back and told God, "Well Pharaoh said he is down here." God said, "That's
all right. Go back and tell him I am that I am ... my last and first name is the
same and my message is still let my people go."
This system has a nice way of doing it. We don't say we are not going to let
them go. The system says we will let them go but we are always enslaving them
and causing them to get behind even more. If you don't understand what I mean,
Martin Luther King and I were struggling in the South. There are more poor
people and they're poorer now than they were then and we have more money, more
everything. We are wasting it up in this country.
God is going to help us get rid of some of it because we have t.o buy some
friends with free food to help us. You can be sure your sins will find you out.
To show you that this hasn't changed, when Christ Jesus was risen, he called the
disciples. Read the last chapter of John. Jesus told the disciples, "Peace be
unto to you. As My father has sent me, even so, I send you." Our job is to still
speak to Pharaoh, to the system and the injustices in the system. Do you all
agree with that? If you don't, it is true. The church must speak out. If you
could see the Civil Right film, I could have brought that film and wouldn't have
to say anything. I have three copies. We would have fighting and suffering and
Howard K. Smith, this is in 1961, a long time ago. White people were saying what
they wanted to say. The judges and the bishops were talking. The Martin Luther
King letter from the Birmingham jail was responding and so forth. You would have
been surprised. You would have almost thought it was slavery time. The blacks
were discussing their suffering and sacrifices. We called ourselves Negroes
then. Negroes have changed. We call ourselves some of everything now. King led
us to the Birmingham jail with an answer to that defense. The church does not
speak. We compromise on things. We accept things. The history of the church says
that money has had a large effect on the church. Anything money can buy, someone
else can sell for a little more money. People should speak the truth. The Lord
told us to speak the truth. They tell me if we ever practice speaking the truth,
you won't. have to remember the last lie that you told. The truth is just the
truth you know.
I have a little more written down here if you can take it. Without justice,
there would be no brotherhood ever. There would be no beloved community. In the
south, segregation at one time, you wouldn't believe this was more sacred than
going to heaven. The Ku Klux Klan, the mob were allied with the rulers, the
system. The system is amazing. It is just like Old Man River. Don't say nothing,
just keep rolling along. I tell many black people it is our responsibility to
challenge this system. We must remember, if we don't win the war and just win a
battle and think you have won the war, then you have lost. We must come together
and keep pushing for what is wrong. Injustice. I still say like I said fifty
years ago, "Rattlesnakes don't commit suicide and ball teams don't strike
themselves out. You have to put it out." If we are going to win the battle for
justice, freedom, and righteousness in America, we will have to stand up for
something or we will fall for everything. I ask the question, "Who is brave
enough in the land of the free and the home of the brave to call for freedom or
to stand up for freedom? I am speaking to the young people. What kind of world
do you want? Do you want to continue to live in a world that was oppressive,
where people say that they are praying? Even Abraham Lincoln said back then,
"How can a man rest his living from the eyebrows and back of another person and
call on a righteous God to sustain him". In the civil war you have to come to
the conclusion that even if the war is terrible until every drop of blood drawn
with the lash shall be replaced and drawn by the sword. Even so, it must be said
as David said two thousand years ago, "The judgments of the Lord arc true and
righteous all together." I hope that the colleges are training young people. We
have been training them to become a part of the system and become just like the system.
Some of my people were once slaves. Some people hate the word slavery because
they don't like to think they have been in slavery, but they have. When you rise
a little bit up to a certain point, you have to reach back and help those who
are still behind. Justice calls for people who rise in it all, to remember where
you came from. People that don't remember where they came from will not get too
far ahead. Segregation was so important. I can just put this in here now so you
won't forget. If Diane Nash had not been in Nashville encouraging the students,
as I said earlier, the freedom rides would have died on the ground in
Birmingham. That is, they could not have gotten out. But she called me and said,
"Imagine this. After all of the violence and other things, the first time I saw
a human skull, they hit him with an iron pipe and his skull was lying open. You
would not believe it. Birmingham was terrible. They intended to give this man to
the Klan that night. It is amazing how far some people will go, claiming
righteousness. I better tell this. I have seen so many things. I thank God for
this. I don't let anything I see or hear keep me from being what I think I ought
to be and do. Ordered and directed from above before we got here. We should try
to relate to that. On the day that the freedom riders were beaten up, here comes
a yow1g black boy, all beaten up. They came to get me. By the time I got out
there, two or three more had come. Then here comes this white man with his skull
out. It was a pitiful sight. It was as bad as it was on September the 11th, but
in a small way because you had to have empathy.
You had to have evidence. It was around one thirty or two o'clock when we sent
him to Jefferson Hospital. I told him not to try to catch a cab to come back. It
was a dime then. I told him to call me when he was ready and we would come back
to get him. I thank God for using me. We were afraid but so concerned to make
sure of this. I had people around me that I could send to the hospital. That
night something said to me, "Why don't you go". Two fellows said they would go".
I said, "I think I will go tonight. They told me to stay there and they would go
but I told them I wanted to ride tonight. I was on the driver's side. The people
were still marching around the church as if they knew each other, so this man
had this other fellow's car. There were three wheelers and two squad cars. We
came out and got in the car. We pulled off slowly. \,Vhen we started off, they
started off also. I said to the driver, "Be careful. Don't drive over eleven
miles per hour. Nobody is going to get arrested for speeding tonight". We went
from 20th Street going from South to North. There is a viaduct where you had to
go about six blocks to get off, up and on to the North side. They followed us
slowly until we got about a block on the viaduct where you could not turn off or
get off. A policeman on a three-wheeler came right up to the driver's side and
said, "Where are you going boy?" The fellow said, "I am going back over to
Reverend Shuttlesworth's house". The policeman said, "Yeah, let me see your
license". It was the usual. The police said, "Well let me see your
registration?" The fellow said, "Well I am driving so and so's car". The police
said, "Oh, a stolen car!" I knew right then it was going to be hell to pay. I
was so glad I was there. I said to myself, "Thank you Jesus that I came". Has
there ever been a time when you just thanked God for who you are? I knew I had
to say something. The police said to him, "You mean to tell me you have a stolen
car?" I thought I had better say something then. I was sitting on the passenger
side. I said, "Officer you have understanding enough to know that this man would
not get a stolen car to come over to the hospital to get James Peck. He said,
"Who in the hell are you?" I said, "You don't like to know me but you have to
know me. I am Fred Shuttlesworth and tonight you all will not do what you intend
to do. We won't have that here tonight. He is going back over to my house,,. The
policeman said, "Who the hell you say you was? I am saying this only because the
policeman said this. 1 said," I am Reverend Fred huttlesworth and you know it".
The policeman had this thing open and I was listening to the people down at the
station and he was also. He said, "Oh, you are Shuttlesworth?" I said, ''Yes I
am". He said over the speaker, "Hey so and so, shuttlesworth is with us. The
person he was talking to said, "Who, you said?" The police officer repeated
"shuttlesworth!" The man on the radio said, "Aww hell! Let him go!" I said,
"Thank God!" I was in a place where I could speak out and say who I was. My
"am-ness" helped that situation. I am going to make this part of a long story
short if I can. I feel better now than I did when I began to talk. I thought it
was all over. They finally left out from there.
The very next morning when I was getting ready to go out of town, along came a
nice lady's voice saying, "Brother shuttlesworth, this is Diane ash". She had
not yet married as of then. he continued, "The students in Nashville have
decided that we can no longer let violence stop the rights of people". I said,
"Young lady, do you understand what is happening around here? Do you know
someone may yet be killed here?" he said, "Oh yes, but I want to inform you that
the students have made a decision". ln my heart, while I was trying to talk nice
to her, I am saying, "Thank God!" Have you ever been talking to someone and
praying at the same time? I said, "Thank you God for courage". he said, "In fact
a load are already on the way". I said call your governor and police and send
them some telegrams". At that time, any way that they could get you for an
infraction of the law they would do it. I told her we better develop a little
signal because if you would call my house long distance, at that time, Bill
Conner, and all of them would be listening to everything. When I would pick up
the phone long distance, I could hear the police talking to each other. One
time, I went to make a call and I heard someone say, "That's Shuttlesworth".
Don't be so excited. You would be amazed what your country can do. I have gotten
as many as fifty telephone calls in one night. Sometimes we would pick up the
phone and no one would say anything. One time the telephone rang and I picked it
up. I said, "Hello". No one said anything. I put it down and picked it back up
again. I took it off the hook. Guess what? The phone rang off the hook. Another
time I picked it up. Someone said, "Hello, Fire Department, Hello Police
Department. Hello Hospital". Within ten minutes all of them ganged at my house.
I have been through a storm, but thanks be to God.
The problem is not so much about what happens to you. I have discovered that
this God we talk about has always been a God of deliverance. His automobile is
the only automobile I know that does not have any reverse gears. God's car is
not supposed to back up. He proved that at the Red Sea. Nothing but water on
either side and yet God said, "Go ahead. Forward march" There is no mountain or
no water that can stop God. Forward march. They walked across on dry land. It
took faith to believe that. So they went on across. I believe the same about
Pharaoh's army. They were drowned in the Red Sea. The world says, "If you can do
it, then we can too", but you can't if God is in it. He does what he wants to do
and nobody can stop him. How much more time do I have? I am just getting started.
Let's do some things here. Thank God for the creative fifties and sixties. As Stevenson said when he was running against Eisenhower, he said, "America is great because America is good. I liked to hear him orate. He was the best speaker. Eisenhower couldn't talk but he could. He continued to say, "When America ceases to be good, it ceases to be great". It became me, Martin and others led by black folk to challenge this system. We had to ask America, "How good is God's goodness?" I love that song. I don't care what people say about me because I am an American. They used to call me communist, they'd call me black. I said, "Well no, I am too American black to be Russian Red." You can call me what you want but I am like Abraham Lincoln, calling a cow's tail a leg does not make it a leg. I like when we sing that song America, America God shed his grace on you and crowned your good. You need to question how good is his goodness. You must do it because that is a necessity. There are too many people that are terrorized. But I'll try to get to that a little more quicker so you can ask me some questions. We must live in a society that is affluent to decide whether you are going to pay your rent or doctor bill. This is my prayer for America. I hope you will pray for it too. Bush didn't win the election fully, that's all right, we didn't disagree and I can love you right on. Half of that stuff we can change. God bless you and God sanctify you and keep you strong and thank you for allowing me to come.
</transcript><transcript_alt></transcript_alt><rights></rights><fmt>video</fmt><usage></usage><userestrict>0</userestrict><xmllocation>loc_civr_0000005.xml</xmllocation><xmlfilename>loc_civr_0000005.xml</xmlfilename><collection_link></collection_link><series_link></series_link></record></ROOT>
Dublin Core
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Title
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VHS tape of "Trial by Fire and Water: Birmingham, 1963" (Part I).
Subject
The topic of the resource
Shuttlesworth, Fred L., 1922-2011
Civil rights movements--Southern States--History--20th century
Birmingham (Ala.)
Jefferson County (Ala.)
Description
An account of the resource
Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth is the speaker in this lecture given at Alabama A&M.
Creator
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Alabama A & M University
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Source
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Lecture Series on Civil Rights in Alabama, 1954-1965
Box 2, Tape 5
University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives, Huntsville, Alabama
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2001-10-11
Rights
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This material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though the University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.
Language
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en
Type
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Lectures
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Identifier
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loc_civr_0000001
Extent
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2:01:04
Temporal Coverage
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2000-2009
Has Format
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<a href="http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/omeka-2.6.1/items/show/521">Transcript of "Trial by Fire and Water: Birmingham, 1963" (Part I).</a>
Format
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Videotapes
-
http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/digitalcollections/files/original/32/481/loc_civr_020_024.pdf
45de9c40b56317c72772a87bb24576e6
PDF Text
Text
The Civil Rights Movement in Alabama
Join us in Fall 2001 in celebrating a series of public lectures,
panels and firsthand accounts of the major developments of
the Civil Rights Movement that took place in Alabama
from 1954 to 1965.
Presented by
Alabama A&M University
UAH LECTURES
f-!l@lfift•I
Inaugural Lecture
Taylor Branch, Pulirzer Prize-winning author of Paning
�JhL%�rs;.c.Av1eiica in ihe Ki11g Ye<lrs, 1954-63 (1988)_
and Pillar of Fire: America in ihe King Years, 1963-65
(1998).
fi��i#+�1�13;11ci
Early Years of the Movement (Part 1)--
Diane Nash, student leader, Nashville sit-ins of 1960,
Freedom Rides of 196 I, and the Selma Right-ro-Votc
movement, and a founding member of the Student
No,wiolenr Coordinating Commitree (SNCC).
ti4iji#�1�J3;fiJ
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
Fred Gray, acrorney for Rosa Parks and Martin Luther
King, Jr., and author of B11s Ride w)11s1ice (1995);
Charles Moore, Tuscumbia native and celebrated
photographer of the civil rights era; D'Linell Finley,
Sr., University of Alabama Department of Political
Science.
t•Xit•]a3;11:I
Trial by Fire and Water:
Birmingham, 1963 (Part II)
Glenn Eskew, Georgia State University, author of But
for Binninglumi: The Local and National Movemenrs in ihe
Civil Righis Struggle (1997); Horace Huntley,
University of Alabama in Birmingham, author of a
forthcoming oral history of the Birmingham movement;
-e.Jessa Woolfolk, Presidem Emerita ofthe &a,<l t>{
Directors of the Birmingham Civil Righcs Institute.
m•VU+�l:l3ili
"Bloody Lowndes" and the
Black Panther Party
John Hulett, Lowndes County activist during SNCC's
local voter registration drive; Frye Gaillard, prize-win
ning journalist, author of The Dream Long Deferred
(1988) and a forthcoming history of the civil rights
movement in Alabama.
m•i'4Ml:'3ilf.l
Turmoil in Tuskegee
Ocmon$1rO!rol"$ QI Kcly l"9rom Port<, Bi,minghom, Maj 1903'
Frank Toland, Tuskegee University Department
of History.
�AAMU LECTURES
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,1fai#tM41·
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The Long Night's Jo urney, 1877-1941
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NOVEMBER 8
Selma to Montgomery, 1965
Linda Reed, University of Houston, author of Sim/)ie
Decency and Common Sense: The Sol((hem Conference
lvlovemem, 1938-1963 (1991 ).
John Lewis, U.S. Congressman (Ga., O-Sth)
a native of Troy, A labama and author of \'(/a/king tvith rhe
\Vind: A Memoir of rhe Movement ( 1998), active in the
Freedom Rides and in the events of "Bloody Sunday" at
Selma in 1965; Mary Stanton, author of From Selma ro
SEPTEMBER 20
Early Years of the Movement (Part II)
J. L. Chestnut, Jr., attorney and civil rights nctivist,
Sorrow: the Life and Dearh of Viola Uuzzo ( 1998).
l§t•V4#�J:13;fkl
author of ·BJack in Selma: The Uncommon Life of). L.
Chesnrnt]r.: Poliiics and Power in a Small American
The Case of Mobile
City ( 1990).
Walker Leflore, Janet Owens Leflore, and Burton R .
LeFlore, family o f the eariy civii rights leader John
Leflore; O. B. Purifoy, member of the Non-Partisan
Voters League.
t❖it•M3ilil
Trial by Fire and Water:
Birmingham, 1963 (Part I)
l•J«#�H1#;11
Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, veteran civil rights fighter,
pastor of Birmingham's Bethel Baptist Church
between 1953 and 1961, and a founder of the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
The Civil Rights Movement in Alabama
(A Look Back and a Look Ahead)
Aldon Morris, Northwestern University, author of
The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement: Black
Communities Organizing for Change ( 1984).
(❖i(•J:)3iffi
Huntsville during the Civil Rights Movement
Sonnie W. Hereford, III, local physician and activist;
Veronica Pearson, Fred Carodine, and other former
Alabama A&M students active in the 1962 sit-ins.
For more information, look us up on the web at:
Charles Moore, Tuscumbia native
a�d renowned pho(ograpcr of the
Civil Rights era.
http://www.uah.edu/rights or
1------http:;tlwww.aamu.eauTr·-, g�ts---or call 824-6822 or 851-5846
All sessions are free and open to the public and will be held on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m,
except the final session on Dec. 4, which will be on Tuesday. UAH programs will be held at
Roberts Recital Hall. Alabama A&M programs will be held in the School of Business Multipurpose Room.
This series is mode possible in port by funding from lhe Alobamo Humanities Foundation, o state program
of the Notional Endowment for the Humonities; Senator Hank Sandert; The Huntsville Times; DESE Research, Inc.;
MEVATEC Corp.; Alabama Representative Louro Holl; Alabama A&M University, Office of the President;
Office of the Provost; State Black Archives; Reseorch Center and Museum; Tide Ill; Telecommunications and Distance
Learning Center; Office of Student Development; Honors Center; Sociol ogy/Social Work; History; Political Science;
The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Office of the President; Office of the Provost; History Forum/Bonkheod Foundation;
Sociology/Social Issues Symposium; Humanities Center; Division of Continuing Education; Honors Program; Office of
Multiculturol Affairs; Office of Student Affoirs; UAH Copy Center.
'Any ':production of image prohibited without permission o( Charles Moore or Black Star (cmoore 1567@earthlink.net/.
I<
[;
�UAH
Joo(
al lllt<lfSIJII_M _
Alabama A&M University
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Dublin Core
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Title
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Lecture Series on Civil Rights in Alabama, 1954-1965
Relation
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<a href="http://libarchstor.uah.edu:8081/repositories/2/resources/21" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">View the Lecture Series on Civil Rights in Alabama, 1954-1965 finding aid in ArchivesSpace</a>
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Lecture Series on Civil Rights in Alabama, 1954-1965
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Flier advertising the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama 1954-1965 Lecture Series.
Subject
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Alabama--History--1951-
Civil rights movements--Southern States--History--20th century
Creator
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Alabama A & M University
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Source
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Lecture Series on Civil Rights in Alabama, 1954-1965
Box 1, Folder 1
University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives, Huntsville, Alabama
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2001
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though the University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.
Language
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en
Type
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Fliers
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Text
Identifier
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loc_civr_000020_000024
Temporal Coverage
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2000-2009
Description
An account of the resource
This pamphlet features photographs taken by Alabama photographer Charles Moore during the civil rights era. Speakers listed include Fred Gray, Fred Shuttlesworth, Sonnie Hereford, and John Lewis.
-
http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/digitalcollections/files/original/32/521/loc_civr_025_044.pdf
aff76a60d08d39750bbe219d76133d43
PDF Text
Text
The Civil Rights Movement in Alabama
Alabama A&M University
Trial by Fire and Water: Birmingham, 1963 (Part I)
Speaker: Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth
Introduction: Our speaker for tonight is the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth. You will hear
more about him from the person who will introduce him. I want to make just a few
comments about the way in which the programs have taken place up to this point. Last
week we did not have a lecture. I am not sure if that was clearly stated at the program on
week before last. There may have been some confusion. At least I heard some were a
little bit confused. In fact we had a program at the State Black Archives last Thursday.
Some of the people showed up at the State Black Archives. They said to me, "Is this
where the symposium is going to be?"
I told them there was no way we could
accommodate the numbers that we have had at this symposium here at our place. We can
only accommodate about fifty in there.
I'm very sorry that there was some
misunderstanding. I think there may have been at least a statement made but perhaps jt
was not emphasized as clearly as it should have been or perhaps the emphasis was not as
great as it should have been. If you had looked at your schedule, you would have noticed
that there was no notation for October 4 th . That was because UAH had a small break last
week. That is the reason why it is not scheduled for the brochure. We apologize for any
inconvenience. We hope that you will forgive us for not making that clear. However,
tonight I would like for you to be sure to note that next week's program will be at UAH.
It will be at the same place and at the same time. However, the next two programs from
the campus of Alabama A& M, that is October 25 th. If you have your pencils and you
want to make a note on your brochure, you can. October 25 th and November 8 th will be
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in this place, which is the West campus center and the Ernest L. Knight reception area. If
you are coming from Meridian, come to the second light. Tum right or turn left. There is
plenty of parking areas just across the street in the parking area where the post office is.
There is some parking also on this side, if you turn left. All you have to do is remember
to proceed to the second light after the Chase Road and then turn left or right. It will be
the building across from the post office.
Is that clear to everyone?
The next two
programs on the campus of Alabama A&M, October 11 and October 25 and November 8,
there are three of these and John L. Lewis will be here. We hope that some of the matters
that are keeping the conference occupied will not prevent him from coming. We hope
that he will be able to be here. Keep that in mind. I would like to acknowledge the
planning committee that has been responsible for each program. Dr Mitch Berbrier,
John Dimmock, Lee Williams and Dr. Jack Ellis from UAH; Professor Carolyn Parker,
who is not able to be here tonight, she is out of town, and myself, from Alabama A&M,
and of course crucial contributions are made by Joyce Maples and Mr. Charles Wood.
We do want to acknowledge their contribution and the committee as a whole. I would
like for Dr. Lee Williams to come forth and acknowledge the people who are responsible
for this series. Pastor of St. John AME Church and a professor here at Alabama A&M
University, will introduce Dr. Shuttlesworth. Thank you.
Introduction continued: Thank you very much Dr. Williams. To Dr. Johnson and to all
of the committee of the Civil Rights Movements Symposium, and to all of the
underwriters, distinguished guests, visitors and friends, the entire Alabama University
family, it is a distinct honor and privilege to introduce the speaker this evening. He is
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one whom I can truthfully and sincerely state, his times are in God's hands. Paraphrased
from Psalms 31: 15, "My times are in thy hands." Circumstances and events in this life
for eighty years, this March, I believe. He has had fifty-eight years of ministry and
thirty-six years at Greater New Life Baptist Church in Cincinnati. He has been living
eighty years on this planet earth. He will introduce himself through his testimony tonight;
a testimony with heritage rich in the African-American experience; a heritage rich in his
love for America; a heritage rich in its primary base, a spiritual base. We thank God for
that rich heritage that is so needed for such a time as this. Yes, we could talk about his
long devotion, his personal history, human rights, and justice ranging from Selma
University and Alabama State with a Bachelor in Science Degree, but he does not want
me to talk about that. Even about 1956 where Alabama politicians outlawed the
ational
Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In response to that act, a group of
ministers under the leadership of Reverend Shuttlesworth came together to organize the
Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. He was a very close ally of Dr. King.
With the personality of confrontation, he becan1e known and honored as Birmingham's
Civil Rights Leader. He was able to help and join together with Dr. Martin Luther King
and others to form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He was devoted to
nonviolence.
He conducted leadership training programs.
We can read the whole
history of this association with attorney general Kennedy along with his love for human
rights and justice. He was beaten with clubs and chains when he tried to enroll his
children in an all white high school and in 1961 he moved to Cincinnati. He founded the
Greater New Life Baptist Church in 1966 where he continues to serve as pastor. It's no
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question that they honored him on March 10th through 17 th of 2002, for thirty-six years of
faithful service, fifty-eight years in the ministry. He does not even look like he is eighty
years old. When I grow up I want to be like that. We look forward to a treat tonight and
I am sure that when we have the impact, not only of what happened at the Unity
Breakfast some years ago. He took us to the mountaintop. I am sure that by the grace of
God he will carry us to another level tonight. He always says that he can't go any further
than the people who are praying for him. I would like for you to greet him with attentive
ears, open hearts and raised disposition for Birmingham's Civil Rights leader who comes
to not only give us inspiration but also his dedication for years of fervent commitment,
not only to human rights but social justice as a Christian creature who has not denied nor
cut himself away from his ethnicity, spirituality and politics of confrontation. It is my
privilege now to present to you the Reverend Doctor Fred Shuttlesworth, the Pastor of
Greater New Life Baptist Church.
Fred huttle worth: That is a great introduction son. Thank you very much. That was a
great introduction Dr. Williams, Johnson, all the members of the faculties of these
institutions. I assure you that after that beautiful introduction, I feel a little better than I
did before. I was sitting there thinking about how this is my eighteenth hour. I had to get
up at four o'clock this morning. I must commend the program. This is the first program
in which I have ever been introduced as you get to the heart of the program this quickly.
I don't know if you knew my sufferings or not, but I assure you I won't be all night. I am
reminded of that young boy whose mother wanted him to go and hear a professor speak.
This professor was noted for speaking a long time. In the audience, most people would
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go to sleep while he would be speaking. When any of us would talk, he would sleep.
This young boy had to not only be pleaded with but she started patting him a little bit
with a switch. He was burning and seething. The professor at the college would notice
and just look over the audience, maybe forty-five seconds, or more than a minute and he
couldn't come up with anything. After a while he would say, "I can't think of nothing to
talk about." The little boy would say, "Talk for about a minute and sit down." I may
take a little more than a minute since it would be unfair to you to have that great
introduction and I don't say anything. This is a great time to be alive and I appreciate the
instructional purpose of the programs that you are having, trying to get people to
understand that we have a great heritage. We have a great opportunity to do something
despite the w1certainty of the times in which we live and despite the fact many people
don't appreciate many of the things that happened to make the change that we have had.
This is a challenging time to be alive, both for people who are in college and out of
college. I thought a little bit about the times in which we live. You all are interested in
where I have been and what I have been doing. I admit I have been into some things and
I can put that into one sentence to sort of put a critique on it. Paul the Apostle in writing
to Timothy said some words that seem to fit for what I have tried to do and what I am
doing. First Timothy Chapter 1 Verse 12 says, "Timothy, I thank God for putting me into
this ministry and sustaining me." I may make that the core of what I want to speak about
tonight.
I wish I could speak to your satisfaction on the Birmingham Movement. The
Birmingham Movement should mean much more than it does to most people. If we
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could use that as a taking off point to something better. If we talk about the Birmingham
movement and not be inspired from what happened then, not when I was in it but because
of the sacrifice of the people even down to the children who made as great a sacrifice as
if they were soldiers on a foreign battlefield. That ought to challenge us today to go
ahead and finish up the work. It should challenge us to look at our country, love it, and
make sure it moves forward with this business of brotherhood and justice. I wish I could
just talk about some of the beautiful things that happened in the movement and some of
the terrible things. I know that you have had Diane
ash, one of the stalwart young
ladies. If not for her and the Nashville movement, the freedom riders would have died on
the ground in Birmingham; that is, there would have been no progress.
I wish I could take time and tell you about Robert Kennedy, the president's
brother and the many activities and many conversations that I had with him, especially as
it related to continuing the freedom rides.
Maybe we can cover some of that in the
question and answer period, and in demonstrations, seven years before sixty-two, we
suffered so much. We caught a lot of deprivation. I often think of the song that the
people used to sing, Way Down Yonder By Myself, I Couldn't Iiear Nobody Pray. Before
I say anything more, I would like to release what happened after 9/11. Everybody knows
what that is, don't you? That was the day when everyone needed to not call on the police
but call on the Lord.
I am a person who believes that you can't just let things roll on. Things change
because people change things. I must say to you that the world, if it is to be changed, it
will be changed by people whom the world itself cannot change, so I hope I can
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challenge you in this great city where the rocket center is your foundational basis here.
Leading with outer space, where we haven't conquered inner space yet. I would like to
read this release, then we will say some words and sit down. I was in California and of
course none of us could fly back so I had to stay in California for three extra days. In all
of what has happened to me, I don't think I have seen anything as tragic as those planes
flying into those tall buildings that represented the greatness of America, the wishes of
America, the center of trade in the world. I tried to get about five minutes of sleep by
turning the television off but I couldn't go to sleep just thinking about it. No one could
look at that with any sensibility and not have some sort of feeling. Many people had a
wrong feeling about it. Let me just read this. This is the reason I wrote an article in
California for the paper. "Under no circumstance could any American with any degree of
loyalty to humanity or America condone the inhuman and dastardly destruction of
buildings, lives and property in New York and Washington DC. Our nation has indeed
been partially humiliated by this terrorist attack. We hope and pray that it has also
become more humbled before God.
America responded in military and diplomatic
strengths to those who destroyed so much property and so very many innocent lives.
America will also now move with the same degree of arousement and determination to
attack racism and injustice within, with the same and truly beneficial results to al I
segments and levels of American life. We are all Americans, hopefully loyal and loving
Americans.
However much we question and disagree with the disputed election of
President Bush, we do truly urge all Americans to join one thousand and one percent in
prayer for support of his effort to secure, lift the spirits, and encourage the lives of all
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Americans in this critical hour.
God help us to come together and totally sacrifice
together when we are not in crisis as we are now doing always together the things in
unity of spirit as we are doing in this crucial hour. We saw everybody digging and
pulling and helping and suffering and bleeding, and dying together.
That's what
Americanism ought to be about. I say this from the bottom of my heart and in the spirit
of God who loves his own. Yes, in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr., whom God sent
to speak the spirit of nonviolence and unity to America and to the world. In this our day
of violence, hatred and meanness, only Satan is the enemy of all mankind. All men are
brothers and should act brotherly despite racial and ethnic distinction. God is love and in
His Spirit, someday we will soon overcome the evils of this perilous moment. God bless
America and God bless each one of us." That was the statement.
I was getting ready to go somewhere. I was actually running out the door when I
heard that the judge that dismissed the sentence against the policeman who would not
have been given anything but nine months anyway, if he was given a sentence at all, after
killing this man. It was a minor charge. I thought of how the system can be so light on
certain people and so heavy on others. I thought I should have something to say. I have
lived long enough to know that if you say nothing and do nothing the life will mean
nothing. I was about to run out but my secretary happened to have the radio on. When
J
heard that I couldn't believe it. Serving nine months for killing a man is nothing. If this
was a poor man or a black man, nine years wouldn't have been enough. The following is
what I wrote.
"The not guilty verdict of the court for Officer Steven Roach who
wantonly shot and killed Timothy Thomas, is typical of Cincinnati justice. You know
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where Cincinnati is, don't you? It is as far South as you can get being in the North,
where the treatment of blacks by policemen is concerned. It is very close to rulings by
Southern segregation judges who felt blacks had no rights that policemen had to respect.
I am a living witness to that. This verdict, following a series of unnecessary killings of
several blacks by policeman and numerous investigations by officials, can only mean that
Cincinnati had been and still is stuck in the mud of racism and injustice. Right is right
and wrong is wrong no matter who does it. This city, its prosecutors and its courts can
never find any punishable wrong done by its police department where blacks and
minorities are concerned. As painful and as hurtful as the decision to the morale of the
black and poor community, we must continue to give proper respect to officers of the
law, in spite of this decision and the long unholy record of injustice in this city. Let us
hope in faith and nonviolence that the national tragedy of September 11th will humble
An1erica and Cincinnati, to look within our souls and eliminate racism, injustice and
mistreatment of minorities, even as An1erica now arms itself to root out terrorism in the
world and establish the rule of law. Anything short of equal and exact justice in the same
circumstance done to any individual, regardless of color or status, is very close to terror
itself. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. God bless An1erica and God bless
Cincinnati and may the day speedily come when all men, regardless of position, stand
equally before the Lord. They can enjoy freedom, justice and fair play."
I thought I should read that as a sort of taking off point here tonight, as we think
about one or two lessons from the Civil Rights Movement that can be good for today's
affairs. My friends, I am convinced that this is God's world no matter what. I believe
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that from the bottom of my heart. In fact, when Bull Conner was talking about me I said,
"Mr. Conner, this is not your world! This is God's world." I quoted to him that the
deeds to this world is written in the twenty-fourth Psalm where it reads, "The earth is the
Lord's." I said, "Your name is no where around it." This is God's world. God loves all
of His people. At sunder times, periodically, God moves in human history to change
conditions in human lives. I am also convinced that God is The God, not a God, but "The
God". There is only one you all know. He is the God of love and mercy, as most people
love to say. He is also the God of justice, which most people don't say. It is fotmd in
Psalms 88: 14. You may read it when you go home. It talks about God's throne. Psalms
ninety-seven talks about it also. They both speak of how God's throne sits on two pillars.
One of the pillars is justice and the other is righteousness. You see, whoever speaks and
does not talk about justice, is not talking too much or rightly about Mr. God. He is a God
of justice. We need in this day like in old times, the preachers, the prophets, the church
and the leaders to thunder out the words, "let justice roll down like water and
righteousness. We need that to be emphasized today.
No one can preach or teach about God unless one talks of justice, even from the
prophets who said let justice roll down etc. and the longstanding weakness of the church.
I am not going to ask how many people here belong to a church because I don't want to
hear any untruths in here. The tabernacle, the mosque, in other words organized religion
because organized religion, based on the spirit of God, is God's army. God and an arn1y
is a fighting instrument. Am I right? An army is trained to fight. Folk in the church
should be disciplined to fight. Most folks in the church think that we are in a picnic and
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not a fight. God's movement is to overcome injustice and unrighteousness, whether it is
in the government or in the streets. We don't emphasize this. We are supposed to teach,
preach and talk that. No wonder Dr. Martin Luther King said the church is much n1ore
like a taillight than a head light on a car.
I am going to tell the story about this man who was runnmg late for an
appointment. You all were on time. You are to be commended. This man was driving
his car to an instructional convention.
He was running late because he was doing
something. The crowd he was supposed to lead just went on without him. There were
several carloads that went ahead. He was trying to hurry up when he realized he didn't
have much gas. He rushed to the filling station and said to the man, "Fill it up real quick.
Put some gas in here real quick." At that time they had just got this thing where you
could put the gas and let it be running while you do something else, so the man was very
nice. He tried to do a little courtesy, you know, wipe his windshield off and checking the
air in his tires. He was not concerned about that though. He wanted his gas so he could
just go because he was already late. After awhile he told the guy, "Look fellow, I am
late. Hurry up and put the gas in. Did you see some folks in about ten cars go along here
a few minutes ago?" The man said, "Yes". He said, "Well hurry up because I am
leading those folks.
In the affairs of the world, the church is leading those folks, but say nothing.
Indeed the letter from the Birmingham jail was written in response to high officials, not
just ordinary preachers, but bishops and rabbis who talked with the conscience of God. I
guess that is what they thought. We were put in jail. Police began to beat us. They
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commended the police. They suggested that we should just be quiet. Isn't that the voice
now of evil when people protest? Isn't it the same thing? The system has changed since
the time when God said to Moses, go down and tell Pharaoh. You should read Genesis.
The first Civil Rights Conference was called, not in Chicago, as people think, but in a
midnight desert between God and Moses. There were only two of them there around the
burning bush. It was right there where God said some things that I think we would
refresh ourselves and remind ourselves and really do better as we listen again. Read it
again when you go home. God did a strange thing on September 11 °1 to get our attention.
He just set a bush afire. Well maybe if we let him set bushes afire instead of setting
buildings afire, we would do better. He said, "Moses I am the God". God always makes
it plain that he is the only one. Whatever naine you call him he is the God of your
problem. You have to think of God with antiquity in your mind. Did I not say that right
or what? I thought I was doing something wrong. God said, "I am the God". That's not
my thought though. God said, "I have seen the afflictions of my people". That's where
we get this thing from that we say in church "God sees". Let's believe that. I have heard
their groans and I have come down to deliver them". Our God is a God of deliverance
from whatever will hold us down or back. God says, "I see, I know and I am here". He
said another word that too many preachers leave out. God did not come. He said to
Moses, "I will send you to Pharaoh. I will tell you what to tell him". God is so big and
powerful. He can tell you what he is going to do different from what he is sending you to
do. He said, "I am going to harden Pharaoh's heart but you still do your job". I think
that is where we miss the point. This is a sermon. I am a preacher and it may sound like
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I am preaching. The church and people always have excuses. They're always saying
what they can't do. What can you do? God basically said to Moses, "Well who made
your mouth since you think you can't talk. To help you out I will send your brother with
you but Moses you are responsible." Our job is to go to Pharaoh. Pharaoh has a voice.
This might be a good thought to remember. The voice of Pharaoh then, was not 1nuch
different from the voice of Pharaoh now. Pharaoh is the system no matter who is in it,
whether they are black or white.
Black folks have been in the system most times. We are a little involved in it now.
If we aren't careful, we won't have to be in it long before we are like the system. When
Moses went down to Pharaoh, he was nervous. "Mr. Pharaoh, ugh, I am here." Pharaoh
said, "What's your name? God told Moses to say, "Tell him I am". Moses had never
heard that. One preacher was philosophizing. This preacher felt Moses went down to
Pharaoh and said, "Well God said let his people go. I am is my God." Some people call
this spiritual imagination. He said Pharaoh said, "I am? Who is the Lord that I should
obey? In allegiance, I am that I am." Moses went back and told God, "Well Pharaoh
said he is down here." God said, "That's all right. Go back and tell him I am that I
am... my last and first name is the same and my message is still let my people go."
This system has a nice way of doing it. We don't say we are not going to let them
go. The system says we will let them go but we are always enslaving them and causing
them to get behind even more. If you don't understand what I mean, Martin Luther King
and I were struggling in the South. There are more poor people and they're poorer now
than they were then and we have more money, more everything. We are wasting it up in
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this country. God is going to help us get rid of some of it because we have t.o buy some
friends with free food to help us. You can be sure your sins will find you out. To show
you that this hasn't changed, when Christ Jesus was risen, he called the disciples. Read
the last chapter of John. Jesus told the disciples, "Peace be unto to you. As My father
has sent me, even so, I send you." Our job is to still speak to Pharaoh, to the system and
the injustices in the system. Do you all agree with that? If you don't, it is true. The
church must speak out. If you could see the Civil Right film, I could have brought that
film and wouldn't have to say anything. I have three copies.
We would have fighting and suffering and Howard K. Smith, this is in 1961, a long
time ago.
White people were saying what they wanted to say. The judges and the
bishops were talking. The Martin Luther King letter from the Birminghan1 jail was
responding and so forth.
You would have been surprised.
You would have almost
thought it was slavery time. The blacks were discussing their suffering and sacrifices.
We called ourselves Negroes then. Negroes have changed. We call ourselves son1e of
everything now. King led us to the Birmingham jail with an answer to that defense. The
church does not speak. We compromise on things. We accept things. The history of the
church says that money has had a large effect on the church. Anything money can buy,
someone else can sell for a little more money. People should speak the truth. The Lord
told us to speak the truth. They tell me if we ever practice speaking the truth, you won't.
have to remember the last lie that you told. The truth is just the truth you know.
I have a little more written down here if you can take it. Without justice, there
would be no brotherhood ever. There would be no beloved con1munity. In the south,
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segregation at one time, you wouldn't believe this was more sacred than going to heaven.
The Ku Klux Klan, the mob were allied with the rulers, the system. The system is
amazing. It is just like Old Man River. Don't say nothing, just keep rolling along. I tell
many black people it is our responsibility to challenge this system. We must remember,
if we don't win the war and just win a battle and think you have won the war, then you
have lost. We must come together and keep pushing for what is wrong. Injustice. I still
say like I said fifty years ago, "Rattlesnakes don't commit suicide and ball teams don't
strike themselves out. You have to put it out." If we are going to win the battle for
justice, freedom, and righteousness in America, we will have to stand up for something or
we will fall for everything. I ask the question, "Who is brave enough in the land of the
free and the home of the brave to call for freedom or to stand up for freedom? I am
speaking to the young people. What kind of world do you want? Do you want to
continue to live in a world that was oppressive, where people say that they are praying?
Even Abraham Lincoln said back then, "How can a man rest his living from the eyebrows
and back of another person and call on a righteous God to sustain him". In the civil war
you have to come to the conclusion that even if the war is terrible until every drop of
blood drawn with the lash shall be replaced and drawn by the sword. Even so, it must be
said as David said two thousand years ago, "The judgments of the Lord arc true and
righteous all together." I hope that the colleges are training young people. We have been
training them to become a part of the system and become just like the system.
Some of my people were once slaves. Some people hate the word slavery because
they don't like to think they have been in slavery, but they have. When you rise a little
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bit up to a certain point, you have to reach back and help those who are still behind.
Justice calls for people who rise in it all, to remember where you came from. People that
don't remember where they came from will not get too far ahead. Segregation was so
important. I can just put this in here now so you won't forget. If Diane Nash had not
been in Nashville encouraging the students, as I said earlier, the freedom rides would
have died on the ground in Birmingham. That is, they could not have gotten out. But she
called me and said, "Imagine this. After all of the violence and other things, the first time
I saw a human skull, they hit him with an iron pipe and his skull was lying open. You
would not believe it. Birmingham was terrible. They intended to give this man to the
Klan that night. It is amazing how far some people will go, claiming righteousness. I
better tell this. I have seen so many things. I thank God for this. I don't let anything I see
or hear keep 1ne from being what I think I ought to be and do. Ordered and directed from
above before we got here. We should try to relate to that. On the day that the freedom
riders were beaten up, here comes a yow1g black boy, all beaten up. They came to get
me. By the time I got out there, two or three more had come. Then here comes this
white man with his skull out. It was a pitiful sight. It was as bad as it was on September
the 11 th , but in a small way because you had to have empathy.
You had to have evidence. It was around one thirty or two o'clock when we sent
him to Jefferson Hospital. I told him not to try to catch a cab to come back. It was a
dime then. I told him to call me when he was ready and we would come back to get him.
I thank God for using me. We were afraid but so concerned to make sure of this. I had
people around me that I could send to the hospital. That night something said to me,
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"Why don't you go". Two fellows said they would go". I said, "I think I will go tonight.
They told me to stay there and they would go but I told them I wanted to ride tonight. I
was on the driver's side. The people were still marching around the church as if they
knew each other, so this man had this other fellow's car. There were three wheelers and
two squad cars. We came out and got in the car. We pulled off slowly. \,Vhen we started
off, they started off also. I said to the driver, "Be careful. Don't drive over eleven miles
per hour. Nobody is going to get arrested for speeding tonight". We went from 20 th
Street going from South to North. There is a viaduct where you had to go about six
blocks to get off, up and on to the North side. They followed us slowly until we got
about a block on the viaduct where you could not turn off or get off. A policeman on a
three-wheeler came right up to the driver's side and said, "Where are you going boy?"
The fellow said, "I am going back over to Reverend Shuttlesworth's house".
The
policeman said, "Yeah, let me see your license". It was the usual. The police said, "Well
let me see your registration?" The fellow said, "Well I am driving so and so's car". The
police said, "Oh, a stolen car!" I knew right then it was going to be hell to pay. I was so
glad I was there. I said to myself, "Thank you Jesus that I came". Has there ever been a
time when you just thanked God for who you are? I knew I had to say something. The
police said to him, "You mean to tell me you have a stolen car?" I thought I had better
say something then. I was sitting on the passenger side. I said, "Officer you have
understanding enough to know that this man would not get a stolen car to come over to
the hospital to get James Peck. He said, "Who in the hell are you?" I said, "You don't
like to know me but you have to know me. I am Fred Shuttlesworth and tonight you all
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will not do what you intend to do. We won't have that here tonight. He is going back
,,
over to my house . The policeman said,"Who the hell you say you was? I am saying this
only because the policeman said this. 1 said," I an1 Reverend Fred huttlesworth and you
know it". The policeman had this thing open and I was listening to the people down at
the station and he was also. He said, "Oh, you are Shuttlesworth?" I said, ''Yes I am".
He said over the speaker, "Hey so and so, huttlesworth is with us. The person he was
talking to said,"Who, you said?" The police officer repeated " huttlesworth!" The man
on the radio said, "Aww hell! Let him go!" I said,"Thank God!" I was in a place where
I could speak out and say who I was. My"am-ness" helped that situation. I am going to
make this part of a long story short if I can. I feel better now than I did when I began to
talk. I thought it was all over. They finally left out from there. .
The very next morning when I was getting ready to go out of town, along came a
nice lady's voice saying, "Brother huttlesworth, this is Diane
ash". She had not yet
married as of then. he continued, "The students in Nashville have decided that we can
no longer let violence stop the rights of people". I said,"Young lady, do you understand
what is happening around here? Do you know someone may yet be killed here?"
he
said, "Oh yes, but I want to inform you that the students have made a decision". ln my
heart, while I was trying to talk nice to her, I am saying, "Thank God!" Have you ever
been talking to someone and praying at the same time? I said, "Thank you God for
courage".
he said,"In fact a load are already on the way". I said call your governor and
police and send them some telegrams". At that time, any way that they could get you for
an infraction of the law they would do it. I told her we better develop a little signal
18
�The Civil Rights Movement in Alabama
Alabama A&M University
because if you would call my house long distance, at that time, Bill Conner, and all of
them would be listening to everything. When I would pick up the phone long distance, I
could hear the police talking to each other. One time, I went to make a call and I heard
someone say, "That's Shuttlesworth". Don't be so excited. You would be an1azed what
your country can do.
I have gotten as many as fifty telephone calls in one night.
Sometimes we would pick up the phone and no one would say anything. One time the
telephone rang and I picked it up. I said, "Hello". No one said anything. I put it down
and picked it back up again. I took it off the hook. Guess what? The phone rang off the
hook. Another time I picked it up. Someone said, "Hello, Fire Department, Hello Police
Department. Hello Hospital". Within ten minutes all of them ganged at my house. I
have been through a storm, but thanks be to God.
The problem is not so much about what happens to you. I have discovered that
this God we talk about has always been a God of deliverance. His automobile is the only
automobile I know that does not have any reverse gears. God's car is not supposed to
back up. He proved that at the Red Sea. Nothing but water on either side and yet God
said, "Go ahead. Forward march" There is no mountain or no water that can stop God.
Forward march. They walked across on dry land. It took faith to believe that. So they
went on across. I believe the same about Pharaoh's army. They were drowned in the
Red Sea. The world says, "If you can do it, then we can too", but you can't if God is in
it. He does what he wants to do and nobody can stop him. How much more time do I
have? I am just getting started.
19
�The Civil Rights Movement in Alabama
Alabama A&M University
Let's do some things here. Thank God for the creative fifties and sixties. As
Stevenson said when he was running against Eisenhower, he said, "America is great
because America is good.
I liked to hear him orate.
He was the best speaker.
Eisenhower couldn't talk but he could. He continued to say, "When America ceases to
be good, it ceases to be great". It became me, Martin and others led by black folk to
challenge this system. We had to ask America, "How good is God's goodness?" I love
that song. I don't care what people say about me because I am an American. They used
to call me communist, they'd call me black. I said, "Well no, I am too American black to
be Russian Red." You can call me what you want but I an1 like Abraham Lincoln, calling
a cow's tail a leg does not make it a leg. I like when we sing that song America, America
God shed his grace on you and crowned your good. You need to question how good is
his goodness. You must do it because that is a necessity. There are too many people that
are terrorized. But I'll try to get to that a little more quicker so you can ask me some
questions. We must live in a society that is affluent to decide whether you are going to
pay your rent or doctor bill. This is my prayer for America. I hope you will pray for it
too. Bush didn't win the election fully, that's all right, we didn't disagree and I can love
you right on. Half of that stuff we can change. God bless you and God sanctify you and
keep you strong and thank you for allowing me to come.
TAPE 5 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS INAUDIBLE
20
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Lecture Series on Civil Rights in Alabama, 1954-1965
Relation
A related resource
<a href="http://libarchstor.uah.edu:8081/repositories/2/resources/21" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">View the Lecture Series on Civil Rights in Alabama, 1954-1965 finding aid in ArchivesSpace</a>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Lecture Series on Civil Rights in Alabama, 1954-1965
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Transcript of "Trial by Fire and Water: Birmingham, 1963" (Part I).
Subject
The topic of the resource
Shuttlesworth, Fred L., 1922-2011
Civil rights movements--Southern States--History--20th century
Birmingham (Ala.)
Jefferson County (Ala.)
Description
An account of the resource
Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth is the speaker in this lecture given at Alabama A&M.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Alabama A & M University
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Lecture Series on Civil Rights in Alabama, 1954-1965
Box 1, Folder 6
University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives, Huntsville, Alabama
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2001-10-11
Rights
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This material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though the University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.
Language
A language of the resource
en
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Lectures
Transcripts
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
loc_civr_025_044
Has Format
A related resource that is substantially the same as the pre-existing described resource, but in another format.
<a href="http://libarchstor.uah.edu:8081/repositories/2/resources/21">VHS tape of "Trial by Fire and Water: Birmingham, 1963" (Part I).</a>
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
2000-2009
-
http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/digitalcollections/files/original/40/560/uah_uahp_0000007_web.pdf
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Text
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
UAH Photograph Collection
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
UAH Photograph Collection
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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uah_uahp_0000007
Title
A name given to the resource
Faculty and students participating in Spring Fest.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2001
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
2000-2009
Subject
The topic of the resource
College students
Student activities
Universities and colleges--Faculty
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Huntsville (Ala.)
Madison County (Ala.)
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photographs
Slides
Still Image
Language
A language of the resource
en
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though the University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.
Relation
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uah_uahp_2019_04
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
UAH Photograph Collection
University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives, Huntsville, Alabama
-
http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/digitalcollections/files/original/40/561/uah_uahp_0000008_web.pdf
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�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
UAH Photograph Collection
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
UAH Photograph Collection
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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uah_uahp_0000008
Title
A name given to the resource
Students climbing a rock wall at Spring Fest.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2001
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
2000-2009
Subject
The topic of the resource
College students
Student activities
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Huntsville (Ala.)
Madison County (Ala.)
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photographs
Slides
Still Image
Language
A language of the resource
en
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though the University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.
Relation
A related resource
uah_uahp_2019_04
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
UAH Photograph Collection
University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives, Huntsville, Alabama
-
http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/digitalcollections/files/original/40/563/uah_uahp_0000010_web.pdf
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PDF Text
Text
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
UAH Photograph Collection
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
UAH Photograph Collection
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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uah_uahp_0000010
Title
A name given to the resource
Students on an inflatable slide at Spring Fest.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2001
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
2000-2009
Subject
The topic of the resource
College students
Student activities
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Huntsville (Ala.)
Madison County (Ala.)
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photographs
Slides
Still Image
Language
A language of the resource
en
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though the University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.
Relation
A related resource
uah_uahp_2019_04
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
UAH Photograph Collection
University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives, Huntsville, Alabama
-
http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/digitalcollections/files/original/40/565/uah_uahp_0000012_web.pdf
cf49a1502402860cd6ffc6d05b04e2c3
PDF Text
Text
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
UAH Photograph Collection
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
UAH Photograph Collection
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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uah_uahp_0000012
Title
A name given to the resource
Live musicians performing at UAH.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2001
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
2000-2009
Subject
The topic of the resource
Student activities
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Huntsville (Ala.)
Madison County (Ala.)
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photographs
Slides
Still Image
Language
A language of the resource
en
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though the University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.
Relation
A related resource
uah_uahp_2019_04
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
UAH Photograph Collection
University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives, Huntsville, Alabama
-
http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/digitalcollections/files/original/40/575/uah_uahp_0000022_web.pdf
0e494fc7cd6db5504179d00253ff0ad7
PDF Text
Text
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
UAH Photograph Collection
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
UAH Photograph Collection
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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uah_uahp_0000022
Title
A name given to the resource
UAH cheerleaders at the Arby's/Jan Lusk Basketball Classic.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2000-01-03
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
2000-2009
Subject
The topic of the resource
College sports
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Huntsville (Ala.)
Madison County (Ala.)
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photographs
Slides
Still Image
Language
A language of the resource
en
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though the University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.
Relation
A related resource
uah_uahp_2019_04
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
UAH Photograph Collection
University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives, Huntsville, Alabama
-
http://libarchstor2.uah.edu/digitalcollections/files/original/40/585/uah_uahp_0000032_web.pdf
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PDF Text
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�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
UAH Photograph Collection
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
UAH Photograph Collection
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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uah_uahp_0000032
Title
A name given to the resource
Scene from a UAH softball game.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2001
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
2000-2009
Subject
The topic of the resource
College sports
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Huntsville (Ala.)
Madison County (Ala.)
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Photographs
Slides
Still Image
Language
A language of the resource
en
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
This material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though the University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.
Relation
A related resource
uah_uahp_2019_04
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
UAH Photograph Collection
University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives, Special Collections, and Digital Initiatives, Huntsville, Alabama