Children's Crusade Of 1963 - HISTORY

From May 2 to May 5, 1963, thousands of children left their schools in Birmingham, Alabama, to march for civil rights. Police officers responded by using water cannons and dogs to attack and then arrest the children.

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Gov. George Wallace holds a press conference to argue against integration of the state's public schools. Almost 10 years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling to desegregate schools, Alabama had still not complied. On June 11, 1963, Wallace made national news when he stood in the doorway at the University of Alabama to block African-American students from entering.

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Newsreel footage of former Alabama Governor George Wallace standing against desegregation while being confronted by federal authorities at the University of Alabama in 1963.

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As an NAACP field secretary, Medgar Evers became a target for those who opposed racial equality and desegregation. On June 12, 1963 at 12:40 a.m., Evers was shot in the back in the driveway of his home in Jackson, Mississippi.

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