BIRMINGHAM CHILDREN'S MARCH GAME BY: GIA KIM & ISABELLA TESTA MAY 2ND 1963

U.S. CALLS ON ALABAMA TO HALT RACIAL STRIFE

Federal officials urged Alabama authorities to intervene as protests mounted across Birmingham. Hundreds of demonstrators were arrested as Bull Connor's officers maintained their post downtown. The Kennedy administration watched closely, wary of appearing to interfere in state matters.

Observers noted that the movement had taken an unexpected turn, the marchers flooding the streets were not the seasoned veterans of the civil rights struggle but children, some as young as six years old, carrying signs and singing hymns as they walked toward downtown.

BIRMINGHAM, ALA., MAY 2, 1963

HOLD
THE LINE

Inspired by the true events of
the Birmingham Children's March

VIOLENCE ERUPTS AT RACIAL PROTESTS

Firehoses and police dogs were deployed against nonviolent marchers in Kelly Ingram Park as authorities attempted to disperse the crowds. Images of the confrontation circulated nationally, drawing widespread condemnation from civil rights organizations and political figures.

The Birmingham campaign, organized by Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, aimed to break the city's entrenched system of racial segregation through sustained economic pressure and public demonstration.

BIRMINGHAM CHILDREN'S MARCH BEFORE YOU BEGIN MAY 2ND 1963

BIRMINGHAM, 1963

The city on the edge of history

By spring 1963, Birmingham, Alabama was known as the most segregated city in America. Black residents were excluded from white businesses and jobs beyond manual labor. White supremacist bombings were so frequent that one neighborhood was called "Dynamite Hill."

At the center of this system was Commissioner of Public Safety Eugene "Bull" Connor, who used police violence and arrests to suppress protests. For years, it worked.

But resistance grew. Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, founder of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, had long challenged segregation. In 1963, he invited Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to Birmingham. Together, they launched Project C (Confrontation), a campaign of nonviolent protests, including marches, sit-ins, and boycotts. King was arrested on April 12 and wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail.

Then came a bold idea. James Bevel proposed involving students. Trained in nonviolence and aware of the risks, they agreed.

On May 2, 1963, over a thousand children left school and gathered at 16th Street Baptist Church. Singing, they marched toward downtown in waves.

Police were waiting. You are one of them.

YOUR CHARACTER

"The Officer"

Race: White

Age: 33

Occupation: Police Officer

Friend(s): Ben (Best friend)

An officer in the Birmingham Police Department. He has a beautiful family, a mortgage, and a commanding officer he respects. He has never thought of himself as a bad person. He believes in the chain of command, and the idea that if everyone does their job, things stay safe. His duty is to protect the city he loves.

NAME YOUR CHARACTER

WHAT WILL BE YOUR CHARACTER'S NAME?

PRE-REFLECTION QUESTION

Before you begin: If you were in the shoes of a white police officer in 1963 Birmingham, what do you think you would do, follow orders, or defy them?

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PRE-REFLECTION GALLERY

Anonymous responses from players before playing:

BIRMINGHAM 1963

REFLECTION QUESTION

Now that you've played: How did your choices make you feel? What surprised you most about the decisions you made?

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BIRMINGHAM CHILDREN'S MARCH LEARN MORE MAY 2ND 1963

WANT TO LEARN MORE? START HERE…

The Birmingham Children's Crusade of May 1963 was a turning point in the American Civil Rights Movement. Organized by Reverend James Bevel and endorsed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., thousands of Black schoolchildren voluntarily left their classrooms to march through the streets of Birmingham, Alabama, facing fire hoses and police dogs to demand an end to racial segregation.

Their courage shocked the nation and the world. The images broadcast on television and printed in newspapers the following day generated enormous public pressure on the Kennedy administration and ultimately contributed to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

DOCUMENTARIES & FILM

4 Little Girls (1997), Spike Lee's documentary on the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing and the Birmingham campaign. Available on HBO Max.
Eyes on the Prize (1987), The definitive documentary series on the American Civil Rights Movement. Episodes 3 & 4 cover Birmingham directly.
Mighty Times: The Children's March (2004), Academy Award-winning short documentary focused entirely on the Children's Crusade.

BOOKS

McWhorter, Diane. Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama. Simon & Schuster, 2001., Pulitzer Prize-winning history of the campaign.
Levine, Ellen. Freedom's Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories. Putnam, 1993., First-person accounts from the children who marched.
Bausum, Ann. Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Front Lines of the Civil Rights Movement. National Geographic, 2006.
King, Martin Luther Jr. Letter from Birmingham Jail. 1963., Written by Dr. King during his imprisonment. Read free at:
africa.upenn.edu →

ONLINE RESOURCES

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, bcri.org
The leading museum and archive dedicated to the Birmingham campaign.
Civil Rights Movement Veterans, crmvet.org
First-hand accounts and photographs from movement participants.
King Institute, Stanford University, kinginstitute.stanford.edu
Detailed encyclopedia entry on the Birmingham Campaign.
National Museum of African American History & Culture, nmaahc.si.edu, The Children's Crusade

FOR THE CLASSROOM

Zinn Education Project, Children of Birmingham Fill the Jails
Lesson plans and primary sources for teaching this moment in history.
Teaching Tolerance / Learning for Justice, learningforjustice.org
Free classroom resources on civil rights history and racial justice.

BIRMINGHAM CHILDREN'S MARCH WORKS CITED MAY 2ND 1963

WORKS CITED

Getty Images, Birmingham 1963 Photography Archive.
gettyimages.com/photos/birmingham-1963
Civil Rights Movement Veterans, Birmingham Photographs Collection.
crmvet.org/images/imgbham.htm
"Unseen photographs of civil rights conflict in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963." The Guardian, 12 May 2018.
theguardian.com, Unseen photographs
McWhorter, Diane. Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution. Simon & Schuster, 2001.
Levine, Ellen. Freedom's Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories. Putnam, 1993.

PHOTO CREDITS

Firemen Spraying Protestors in Downtown Birmingham. 1963. Wikimedia Commons.
commons.wikimedia.org, Fire hose photograph. Public domain.
Police Dog Attack, Birmingham. 1963. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
emuseum.mfah.org, Police dog attack photograph. Used for educational purposes.
Adelman, Bob. Children Loaded onto School Bus, Birmingham, Alabama. May 1963. © Bob Adelman Estate.
bobadelman.net. Used for educational purposes.
Adelman, Bob. Police Officers Facing Crowd, Birmingham, Alabama. May 1963. © Bob Adelman Estate.
bobadelman.net. Used for educational purposes.
Family Watching Television. 1958. Wikimedia Commons.
commons.wikimedia.org, Family watching television. Public domain.
Adelman, Bob. Protesters Loaded into Paddy Wagon, Birmingham, Alabama. May 1963. © Bob Adelman Estate.
bobadelman.net. Used for educational purposes.
Children's Crusade, Young Children Stopped by Police, Birmingham, Alabama. 1963. Used for educational purposes.
Birmingham Children's Crusade, Crowd Blasted by Fire Hose. 1963. Getty Images, no. 97940225.
gettyimages.com. Used for educational purposes.
Birmingham Children's Crusade, Children Marching with Signs. 1963. Getty Images, no. 97940234.
gettyimages.com. Used for educational purposes.
Birmingham Children's Crusade, Crowd Outside Church. 1963. Getty Images, no. 1061693802.
gettyimages.com. Used for educational purposes.