Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth Day

WHEREAS, Fred Shuttlesworth was born Freddie Lee Robinson on March 18, 1922 in Mount Meigs, Alabama; and

WHEREAS, Fred Shuttlesworth was a Civil Rights activist who led the fight against segregation and other forms of racism as a minister in Birmingham, Alabama, and continued to work against racism and for the alleviation of the problems of the  homeless; and

WHEREAS, in 1957, along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Fred Shuttlesworth founded the Southern Leadership Conference of Transportation and Nonviolent Integration, later renamed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; and

WHEREAS, in 1964, Fred Shuttlesworth traveled to St. Augustine, Florida to take part in marches and beach wade-ins that led to the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Acts of 1964; and

WHEREAS, in 1965 he was active in the marches from Selma to Montgomery that led to the passage of the Voting Rights Acts of 1965; and

WHEREAS, Fred Shuttlesworth organized the Greater New Light Baptist Church in 1966 and founded the Shuttlesworth Housing Foundation in 1988 to assist families who might otherwise not be able to purchase their own homes; and

WHEREAS, in January, 2000, Fred Shuttlesworth received the highest award given to a private citizen, the Presidential Citizen’s Award, and in June, 2004 received the second highest award given to a private citizen, the Jefferson Award; and

WHEREAS the Alabama Airport Authority officially changed the named of the Birmingham International Airport (U.S.) to Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in honor of Fred Shuttlesworth on October 27, 2008; and

WHEREAS, Fred Shuttlesworth was bestowed with hundreds of other awards and honors; and

WHEREAS, one of our nation’s most respected and honored civil rights heroes passed away on October 5, 2011:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert Bentley, Governor of Alabama, do hereby proclaim March 18, 2012 as

Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth Day

in the state of Alabama and recognize his leadership within the Civil Rights Movement and his dedication to the cause of freedom for all people.

Given Under My Hand and the Great Seal of the Office of the Governor at the State Capitol in the City of Montgomery on the 23rd day of February 2012.

      

Governor Robert Bentley