From Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights
Author: Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR)
Date: August 9, 1962
Location: Birmingham, Ala.
Genre: Letter
Topic: Albany Movement
Martin Luther King, Jr. - Arrests
Details
On 8 August Jerome Heilbron of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department issued a “friend-of-the-court” brief opposing the request of Albany city officials for a permanent injunction banning further civil rights protests.1 Buoyed by this federal intervention, the leaders of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR), Fred Shuttlesworth, J. S. Phifer, Edward Gardner, Abraham Woods, and W. E. Shortridge, send King the following telegram expressing their optimism that “victory is ours and our prayers are being answered.”2
dr martin luther king =
city jail albany ga =
we are all encouraged today after reading that the justice department has entered the picture in albany. with god, uncle sam and you, we are confident that victory is ours and our prayers are being answered. keep up your courageous fight with confidence, wyatt is keeping us posted and doing a god job. we are in constant touch with a. d. on new developments and trying to decide on a delegation to attend hearing, however, telephone communications with your dad suggests that we refrain.3 best wishes for success =
alabama christian movement for human rights
rev f l shuttlesworth
president
rev j s phifer
vice
rev edward gardner
vice
rev abraham woods
vice
by w e shortridge
treasurer.
1. Hedrick Smith, “U.S. Intervenes on Negroes’ Side in Georgia Case,” New York Times, 9 August 1962.
2. Fred L. Shuttlesworth (1922–2011). James S. Phifer (1915–1969), born in Lowndes County, was pastor of Birmingham’s Zion Star Baptist Church before moving to White Plains, New York, to become pastor of Calvary Baptist Church. Phifer was active in the Birmingham struggle for civil rights and served as second-vice president of the ACMHR. He was arrested several times for his participation in nonviolent demonstrations and was honored with Fred Shuttlesworth in March 1962 for serving thirty-two days in Birmingham City Jail (Citizens of Birmingham and SCLC, Program, “A Testimonial Honoring Rev. F. L. Shuttlesworth and Rev. J. S. Phifer,” 8 March 1962; see also King to Robert Kennedy, 25 January 1962, pp. 372–373 in this volume). Edward Gardner (1907–2006) was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and graduated from Parker High School. He became pastor of Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1947, a position he held for nearly sixty years. Gardner cofounded the ACMHR and served as the organization’s first vice president. He succeeded Fred Shuttlesworth as president of the organization in 1968. In 1962 Gardner was one of many who defended King when he was attacked by a white segregationist while he spoke at SCLC’s sixth annual convention. Abraham Lincoln Woods (1928–2008), born in Birmingham, Alabama, earned a B.A. (1953) in theology from Birmingham Baptist College, a B.A. (1962) in sociology from Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama, and an M.A. (1975) from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. When the state outlawed the NAACP in 1956, he joined Fred Shuttlesworth to form the ACMHR and became the organization’s second vice president. In 1961, Woods became a faculty member at his alma mater Miles College and worked with King to desegregate Birmingham and organize the March on Washington in August 1963. William Eugene Shortridge (1900–1964) was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He graduated from Howard University with a B.S. in commerce and finance in 1923. Following his father’s death in 1925, Shortridge took over the operation of the Shortridge Funeral Home in Birmingham. In 1956 Shortridge became treasurer of ACMHR, a position he held until his death in 1964. Shortridge was a member of the SCLC executive committee from 1958–1964 and an active member of the local NAACP for thirty-two years, serving in several posts during that time, including branch treasurer, branch president, and executive committee member. King spoke at Shortridge’s funeral on 2 May 1964, calling him a “great freedom fighter” (Emory O. Jackson, “Bishop I. H. Bonner Says ‘Some Day We Will Overcome,’” Birmingham World, 6 May 1964).
3. As a minister of a church on the outskirts of Birmingham, King’s brother A. D. worked with the ACMHR. The group likely refers to King’s trial scheduled for 10 August for charges stemming from his arrest on 27 July.
Source: MCMLK-RWWL, Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection, Atlanta University Center, Robert W. Woodruff Library Archives and Special Collections, Atlanta, Ga.