In this WSB newsfilm clip from May 10, 1963, Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) reads the terms of a demonstration-ending agreement between African American civil rights demonstrators and white leaders in Birmingham, Alabama. Shuttlesworth outlines the agreement's four points, beginning first with planned desegregation of downtown Birmingham's commercial facilities. Leaders also agree to increase economic opportunities for African Americans, including the hire of African Americans for retail positions and the creation of a committee to study and encourage continued progress in other areas of employment. Thirdly, Shuttlesworth explains they have agreed to release on bond of prisoners arrested during the previous weeks' demonstrations. (On May 2 alone, nearly one thousand people had been arrested.) Finally, the agreement seeks to facilitate communication between African American and white leaders. Civil rights demonstrations jointly led by the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) began in early April, 1963. White Birmingham merchants, effected by ongoing demonstrations and boycotts, agreed to negotiate with African Americans, represented by Arthur Shores, Louis Pitts, and A. G. Gaston. These three African Americans presented the movement's demands to white negotiators on May 5; on May 10, the two sides reached the agreement outlined here by Shuttlesworth, ending demonstrations.

Title supplied by cataloger.

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 digital conversion and description of the WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection.

1 clip (about 2 min.): black-and-white, sound ; 16 mm.

Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.

WSB-TV newsfilm clip of Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth reading the terms of a demonstration-ending agreement between African American civil rights demonstrators and white leaders in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963 May 10, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 0848, 15:54/17:49, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia.

Forms part of: Civil Rights Digital Library.