Birmingham campaign

Civil rights campaign organized in early 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama, by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference under Martin Luther King Jr., James Bevel, Fred Shuttlesworth and others. The Children's Crusade of young Black student marchers was met by police dogs and fire hoses under Public Safety Commissioner Eugene 'Bull' Connor, drawing worldwide media attention. The campaign forced desegregation of Birmingham's public facilities and helped lead to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.