The year 1963 was an extraordinary 365 days. In that year, the long-simmering passions among African Americans and their supporters to win civil and human rights exploded in a season of unprecedented change across the nation. Birmingham was the spark that set it off 50 years ago.
Without Birmingham, there might not have been a March on Washington, a stand against a governor in the schoolhouse door, nor a humbled president who began writing laws that finally assured civil rights for all citizens.
The City of Birmingham, its citizens and special guests spent the year remembering the past and looking forward as they commemorated the 50th anniversary of the historic 1963 Birmingham Movement.