November 17, 1961
CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT COMES TO ALBANY, GEORGIA
Albany, Georgia (JFK+50) The civil rights movement officially arrived here in Albany, Georgia today as civil rights activists supported by the NAACP & SNCC begin an effort to desegregate the city.
The Albany Movement Memorial
Charles Sherrod Civil Rights Park
Albany, Georgia
The New Georgia Encyclopedia Photo
The movement in Albany is led by president William G. Anderson & national activists including Charles Sherrod*, Cordell Reagon & Charles Jones.**
*Charles Sherrod, born in 1937, was the 1st field secretary of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Commitee & SNCC director of southwest Georgia.
Rev. Sherrod served as a chaplain at the Georgia State Prison & currently teaches at Albany State University.
**The Albany Movement is described as the 1st mass movement in the modern civil rights era to have as its goal the desegregation of an entire community.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. came to Albany on December 15 & was jailed along with other activists who were peacefully demonstrating opposition to segregation at the city's bus stations, libraries & lunch counters.
King would later employ lessons learned from the Albany Movement in Birmingham, Alabama.
