Fred Shuttlesworth | |
|---|---|
 Shuttlesworth in 2002 | |
| 5th President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference | |
| In office August – November 2004 | |
| Preceded by | Martin Luther King III |
| Succeeded by | Charles Steele Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Freddie Lee Robinson March 18, 1922 Mount Meigs, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | October 5, 2011 (aged 89) Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. |
| Resting place | Oak Hill Cemetery Birmingham, Alabama |
| Known for | Civil Rights Movement |
| Affiliations | Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) |
| Television | Eyes on the Prize (1987) Freedom Riders (2010) |
Freddie Lee Shuttlesworth (born Freddie Lee Robinson, March 18, 1922 – October 5, 2011) was an American civil rights activist who led the fight against segregation and other forms of racism as a minister in Birmingham, Alabama. He was a co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, initiated and was instrumental in the 1963 Birmingham Campaign, and continued to work against racism and for alleviation of the problems of the homeless in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he took up a pastorate in 1961.[1] He returned to Birmingham after his retirement in 2007. He worked with Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement, though the two men often disagreed on tactics and approaches.
The Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport was named in his honor in 2008.
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award is bestowed annually in his name.
- ^ Manis, Andrew M (1999). A Fire You Can't Put Out: The Civil Rights Life of Birmingham's Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0-8173-0968-3.