BACKGROUND Ku Klux Klan demon- homes of those they wished to intimidate. The 16 Governor George Wallace of Alabama. stration in Washington, D.C., 8/9/25. Reconstruction-era Klan did not burn crosses, Governor Wallace did everything in his power to This march included some 40,000 Klansmembers but Thomas Dixon’s 1902–1907 trilogy of novels stifle the peaceful Selma-to-Montgomery march. portrayed a romanticized version of the Ku Klux and thousands of friendly spectators. It was a Credit: Charles Moore, 1965 strong example of white supremacy in American Klan in which its members did burn crosses. The politics at the time. This time marked the pinnacle 1915 movie The Birth of a Nation was based on two of Dixon’s novels. Birth of a Nation quotes 17 16th Street Baptist Church, of the Klan’s status as it would quickly decline in Birmingham, Alabama. membership and power. Dixon’s novel The Clansman as saying “In olden times when the Chieftain of our people summoned A bomb exploded around 10:30 am on Sunday, Credit: Corbis the clan on an errand of life and death, the Fiery September 15, 1963. 20 people were injured and Cross, extinguished in sacrificial blood, was 4 young girls, ages 11 -14, were killed. 01 Segregation Activists. sent by swift courier from village to village… Credit: Birmingham Public Library Credit: Steve Schapiro, 1964 The ancient symbol of an unconquered race of (Catalog # 85.1.20) men.” In 1915, the same year Birth of a Nation 02 “The 2-minute warning,” confronta- was released, Jewish-American Leo Frank was 18 R.E. Chambliss and Charles Cagle tion at the , Selma, lynched. Two months after his lynching, the arrested for questioning in connection March 7, 1965. lynchers burnt a cross. William J. Simmons, who founded the new Ku Klux Klan later in the same with the 16th Street Church bombing. The plan for this non-violent protest was to walk year, burned a cross at the mountaintop founding 7 years later, Chambliss was convicted of murder from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery ceremony. and sentenced to if in prison where he died. In 50 miles away. As some 600 marchers crossed 2002 the last living defendant, Bobby Frank, was the Pettus bridge they encountered police armed 09 Benetton advertisement. sentenced to life in prison at the age of 71. with shotguns and automatic weapons. Governor George Wallace had ordered the use of force, if Credit: Olivero Toscani Credit: Corbis necessary, to halt the march. The police eventu- ally attacked with tear gas, ropes, nightsticks 10 Advertisement from early 1900’s. 19 Myrlie Evers at her husband’s funeral, and canes, many mounted on horses. The event June 15, 1963. became known as “Bloody Sunday.” 11 Whites taking up counter space at Her husband, , was shot in the back Credit: Spider Martin Woolworth’s to block sit-in demonstra- walking from his car to his front door a month tions in Greensboro, NC, 1960. after his garage was fire-bombed in an assassina- 03 Scottsboro Boys, 1931. Woolworth’s was the site of the first protest. It was tion attempt. His murderer, a white supremacist desegregated in the summer of 1960. named Byron de la Beckwith, was not convicted Nine young were arrested in until 31 years later. Alabama in Alabama on false charges of rape Credit: Corbis in 1931. They were only given 25 minutes with Credit: Flip Schulke, Black Star lawyers before trial. Subsequently, they were 12 The dome of the South Carolina found guilty and 8 were sentenced to death (one capitol building. 20 Men in crowd outside Central High School protests. defendant was only 12 and was spared the death The Confederate flag flew atop until 2000. sentence). The case garnered interest, and even- Credit: Bern Keating, Prints and Photographs tually, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial. The 13 Police dogs attacking protestors. Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. “Scottsboro Boys” were again convicted and given prison terms of 99 years, but all were released by See Yellow 04. 21 Whites demonstrating against the 1950. Credit: Charles Moore, 1963 registration of blacks at Woodlawn High Credit: Alabama Depart. of Archives & History, 14 Jeering Ole Miss students with the School in Birmingham, 9/4/63. Montgomery, AL Southern Cross. Many whites were not opposed to violence as a means of preserving segregation. 04 Civil rights protesters being sprayed When a 28-year-old black air force veteran applied Credit: Birmingham News/Courtesy Birmingham by fire hoses, Birmingham, Al, 1963. for admission to the University of Mississippi in 1962, many whites and even the governor, Ross Public Library (Catalog# 1076.1.59) In April of 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was Barnett, responded “Never!” When the applicant jailed in Birmingham, Al. Upon his release, King arrived at the university, a night of rioting ensued. 22 The lynching of 5 African Americans, and his aides taught scores the techniques of Credit: Charles Moore, 1962 Nease Gillespie, John Gillespie, Jack nonviolent protest and sent them forth in orderly Dillingham, Henry Lee and George Irwin, groups. The strategy filled the city’s jails and pro- Salisbury, NC, August 6 ,1906. voked the police commissioner to bring in police 15 Former slave from Louisiana who dogs and fire hoses. Documentation of these escaped to Union lines, 1863. Credit: Allen-Littlefield Collection, Special events helped sway public opinion in favor of the Coercion was central to the American system of Collections Division, Robert W. Woodruff Library, civil rights movement. slavery. Whipping was the most common tool. Emory University, GA Ads for runaway slaves often described disfigura- Credit: Charles Moore, 1963 tion, the result of deep branding or whipping. 23 A lynching in March, 1928. 05 Cattle prod, used to subdue civil Credit: Illinois State Historical Library Credit: Library of Congress rights protesters. Credit: Unknown, New York Times, 1963 01 06 Students of Montgomery High 10 School protesting the enrollment of black 03 students, September, 1963. 09 11 White students walked out of school as federal 05 02 authorities escorted a few black students to enroll. 07 Credit: Flip Schulke, Black Star 04 03 08 07 Ku Klux Klan royalty. 06 12 The Grand Dragon of North Carolina, James R. 03 13 (Bob) Jones attends a Klan rally. A confederate 03 flag (not visible) adorns his sleeve. 18 14 16 Credit: Charles Moore, 1964 21 03 08 The Ku Klux Klan burns a cross in 17 19 Scotland, CT in September, 1980. 15 23 Cross burning is a practice widely associated 03 20 with the Ku Klux Klan. In the early 20th century, the Klan burnt crosses on hillsides or near the 22