ACCESSIBILITY OF FEDERAL COURTS. WELL, 62 YEARS AFTER THE CHILDREN鈥橲 CRUSADE, FOOT SOLDIERS MADE THEIR WAY TO KELLY INGRAM PARK TO DO IT AGAIN. 米兰体育 13 S MYA CALEB JOINS US FROM THE PARK AND MYA WHAT WAS ABOUT WHAT WAS TODAY鈥橲 EVENTS ABOUT? WELL, SARAH, FOOT SOLDIERS REENACTED THAT 1960 3RD MARCH. TODAY, COMING FROM THE CORNER OF SIXTH AVENUE NORTH AND 17TH STREET NORTH AND MAKING THEIR WAY ALL THE WAY TO CITY HALL. AFTER SPENDING SOME TIME MAKING PROTEST POSTERS AND PAUSING FOR A QUICK MOMENT OF PRAYER. PARTICIPANTS MADE THE TREK TO SHORT 20TH STREET NORTH FREEDOM SONGS AND SMILES ACCOMPANIED THE FOOT SOLDIERS AND STUDENTS THAT PARTICIPATED. BUT FOR THE FOOT SOLDIERS, IT鈥橲 BIGGER THAN JUST RELIVING WHAT WAS ONCE A SCARY TIME FOR THEM. WE COULDN鈥橳 EVEN WALK ON THE LEFT SIDE OF FIVE POINT SOUTH, RIGHT UP THERE IN 20TH STREET, RIGHT THERE. SO THIS IS EXCITING FOR ME BECAUSE I CHAIR THE ORGANIZATION AND I AM DETERMINED THAT THESE KIDS UNDERSTAND WHAT WE HAD TO GO THROUGH WITH, AND I WANT THEM TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY CARRY THE FUTURE ON. AFTER CONCLUDING AT CITY HALL, THE FOOT SOLDIERS AND THE STUDENTS MADE THEIR WAY TO THE BOUTWELL AUDITORIUM TO WATCH A DOCUMENTARY. THAT SACRIFICE MADE 62 YEARS AGO, ULTIMATELY LEADING TO THE PASSAGE OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. LI
Re-enactment honors 62 years since Children's Crusade
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Updated: 11:19 AM CDT May 13, 2025
On May 2, 1963, roughly 1,000 Birmingham students left their classrooms and took to the streets, taking on the fight for civil rights in place of their parents in what would later be known as the Children's Crusade. Gathering at the 16th Street Baptist Church, hundreds of the young foot soldiers were arrested for their actions, inspiring hundreds more to repeat the process the next day. They were also attacked by police dogs and sprayed with water hoses. With the city's jail cells quickly filling with children, Bull Connor, Commissioner of Public Safety, ordered the police and fire departments to end the peaceful protests.米兰体育 13's cameras were there to capture shocking images of students being blasted by fire hoses, beaten with batons and attacked by dogs that were broadcast across the country, breathing new life into a movement that was losing steam with the national media.Witness one of the most important moments of the Civil Rights Movement in the archival video below.Compelled by the event, President John F. Kennedy voiced his public support of the civil rights movement, as well as his intention to create pro-civil rights legislation. Just a few months later, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream speech." That sacrifice by those children commemorated through a re-enactment at Kelly Ingram Park each year.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — On May 2, 1963, roughly 1,000 Birmingham students left their classrooms and took to the streets, taking on the fight for civil rights in place of their parents in what would later be known as the Children's Crusade.
Gathering at the 16th Street Baptist Church, hundreds of the young foot soldiers were arrested for their actions, inspiring hundreds more to repeat the process the next day.
They were also attacked by police dogs and sprayed with water hoses.
With the city's jail cells quickly filling with children, Bull Connor, Commissioner of Public Safety, ordered the police and fire departments to end the peaceful protests.
米兰体育 13's cameras were there to capture shocking images of students being blasted by fire hoses, beaten with batons and attacked by dogs that were broadcast across the country, breathing new life into a movement that was losing steam with the national media.
Witness one of the most important moments of the Civil Rights Movement in the archival video below.
Compelled by the event, President John F. Kennedy voiced his public support of the civil rights movement, as well as his intention to create pro-civil rights legislation. Just a few months later, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream speech."
That sacrifice by those children commemorated through a re-enactment at Kelly Ingram Park each year.
