Shuttlesworth, Fred - Timeline Biography
Time Period
03-18-1922 - 10-05-2011
Description
Fred Shuttlesworth (1922-2011) was a minister for the Progressive National Baptist Convention and a civil rights leader. In addition to serving pastorates in both Alabama and Ohio, he also served as the first secretary of Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957.
During his tenure as a civil rights advocate, he earned the reputation as the "most abused and arrested minister in the nation." He was beaten on four occasions, had his home bombed and was arrested 22 times because of his public protests. He fought every arrest and took eight of his cases to the Supreme Court, more than any other individual in the court’s history.
His bold fight for racial inequality earned him numerous accolades, including the Martin Luther King Civil Rights Award in 1975 and the Founder Award from the SCLC in 1977.
During his tenure as a civil rights advocate, he earned the reputation as the "most abused and arrested minister in the nation." He was beaten on four occasions, had his home bombed and was arrested 22 times because of his public protests. He fought every arrest and took eight of his cases to the Supreme Court, more than any other individual in the court’s history.
His bold fight for racial inequality earned him numerous accolades, including the Martin Luther King Civil Rights Award in 1975 and the Founder Award from the SCLC in 1977.
Interactive Timeline(s)
Browse Related Timeline Entries
Religious Groups
Baptist Family: Other ARDA LinksBaptist Family: Religious Family Tree
Events
Rise of Equal Rights MovementsSouthern Christian Leadership Conference
Movements
Civil Rights MovementRelated Dictionary Terms
Christianity, Southern Christian Leadership ConferencePhotographs
.jpg)
Fred Shuttlesworth and Minnijean Brown Trickey- Flickr- photo by Wayne Taylor (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
.jpg)
Fred Shuttlesworth with Hilary Clinton- Flickr- photo by Lloyd Gallman (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
.jpg)
Fred Shuttlesworth statue- Flickr- photo by Andre Natta (CC BY 2.0)
.jpg)
Monument to Frederick Lee Shuttlesworth- Flickr- photo by Terry McCombs (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Book/Journal Source(s)
Murphy, Larry, J. Gordon Melton, and Gary Ward, 1993. Encyclopedia of African American Religions New York: Garland.Web Page Contributor
Benjamin T. GurrentzAffliated with: Pennsylvania State University, Ph.D. in Sociology
