In 1963 Birmingham, Alabama was a hotbed of racial tension; consequently, when Martin Luther King decided to challenge segregation it became an intense battle. Out of this protest came King’s famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and the appalling images of dog bitten and fire hosed teenage protestors. Today, the remembrance of the struggle in Birmingham is a powerful reminder of the kind of violence that civil rights activists often faced.

Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints & Photos Division, NYWT&S Collection