Encyclopedia article about the "Letter from Birmingham Jail" written by Martin Luther King, Jr. during eight days he was imprisoned in Birmingham, Alabama, in April 1963. King had been arrested along with other civil rights leaders on Good Friday, April 12, for violating a court injunction prohibiting civil rights demonstrations in the city. King's letter was written in response to a public statement made by eight white clergymen questioning the timing and methods of the civil rights demonstrations.

The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata.

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Forms part of the Encyclopedia of Alabama.