33 Facts About Fred Shuttlesworth

Fred Shuttlesworth returned from Cincinnati to Birmingham after his retirement in 2007.

Fred Shuttlesworth got his license as a country preacher when he was changing from a Methodist to a Baptist Christian.

Fred Shuttlesworth became pastor of the Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1953 and was Membership Chairman of the Alabama state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1956, when the State of Alabama formally outlawed it from operating within the state.

Similarly, when the United States Supreme Court ruled in December 1956 that bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama, was unconstitutional, Fred Shuttlesworth announced that the ACMHR would challenge segregation laws in Birmingham on December 26,1956.

Fred Shuttlesworth escaped unhurt although his house was heavily damaged.

Fred Shuttlesworth's assailants included Bobby Frank Cherry, who six years later was involved in the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing.

Fred Shuttlesworth drove himself and his wife to the hospital, where he told his children to "always forgive".

Fred Shuttlesworth embraced that philosophy, even though his own personality was combative, headstrong and sometimes blunt-spoken to the point that he frequently antagonized his colleagues in the Civil Rights Movement as well as his opponents.

Fred Shuttlesworth was not shy in asking King to take a more active role in leading the fight against segregation and warning that history would not look kindly on those who gave "flowery speeches" but did not act on them.

Fred Shuttlesworth alienated some members of his congregation by devoting as much time as he did to the movement at the expense of weddings, funerals, and other ordinary church functions.

Fred Shuttlesworth remained intensely involved in the Birmingham campaign after moving to Cincinnati, and frequently returned to help lead actions.

Fred Shuttlesworth was apparently personally fearless, even though he was aware of the risks he ran.

Fred Shuttlesworth himself vowed to "kill segregation or be killed by it".

Decades later, when Fred Shuttlesworth was named president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in August 2004, he resigned later in the year, complaining that "deceit, mistrust and a lack of spiritual discipline and truth have eaten at the core of this once-hallowed organization".

Fred Shuttlesworth participated in the sit-ins against segregated lunch counters in 1960 and took part in the organization and completion of the Freedom Rides in 1961.

Fred Shuttlesworth originally warned that Alabama was extremely volatile when he was consulted before the Freedom Rides began.

Fred Shuttlesworth noted that he respected the courage of the activists proposing the Rides but that he felt other actions could be taken to accelerate the Civil Rights Movement that would be less dangerous.

Fred Shuttlesworth mobilized some of his fellow clergy to assist the rides.

Fred Shuttlesworth himself had been brutalized earlier in the day and had faced down the threat of being thrown out of the hospital by the hospital superintendent.

Fred Shuttlesworth took in the Freedom Riders at the Bethel Baptist Church, allowing them to recuperate after the violence that had occurred earlier in the day.

When Fred Shuttlesworth prepared the Riders to leave Birmingham and they reached the Greyhound Terminal, the Riders found themselves stranded as no bus driver was willing to drive the controversial group into Mississippi.

The Riders then decided to take a plane to New Orleans and were assisted by Fred Shuttlesworth in getting to the airport and onto the plane.

Fred Shuttlesworth suspected their promises could not be trusted until they acted on them.

One of the 1963 demonstrations he led resulted in Fred Shuttlesworth's being convicted of parading without a permit from the City Commission.

In 1963, Fred Shuttlesworth was set on provoking a crisis that would force the authorities and business leaders to recalculate the cost of segregation.

Fred Shuttlesworth thus played a role in the efforts that led to the passage of the two great legislative accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement.

Fred Shuttlesworth organized the Greater New Light Baptist Church in 1966.

In 1978, Fred Shuttlesworth was portrayed by Roger Robinson in the television miniseries King.

Fred Shuttlesworth founded the "Fred Shuttlesworth Housing Foundation" in 1988 to assist families who might otherwise be unable to buy their own homes.

In 1998, Fred Shuttlesworth became an early signer and supporter of the Birmingham Pledge, a grassroots community committed to combating racism and prejudice.

On October 5,2011, Fred Shuttlesworth died at the age of 89 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Fred Shuttlesworth is buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Birmingham.

In 2004, Fred Shuttlesworth received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award is given out annually by Jefferson Awards.