The Palm Sunday March

The Palm Sunday March. March Route to Government. Ministers in 60 Black churches across the city played key roles in the Birmingham Movement. In the mass meetings, ministers fired up their working-class members and encouraged commitment to the struggle against segregation with revival-style preaching and soul-stirring gospel music. The churches were also training centers where ministers taught the rules of non-violent protest. During the campaign in April and May of 1963, Birmingham police recorded 45 mass meetings in 15 churches. Many of these churches sat close to the campaign's target sites, including City Hall. , Paired marker , April 7, 1963 , From left, the Rev. Nelson H. Smith, the Rev. John T. Porter and the Rev. A.D. King march down 6th Avenue toward 17th Street on Palm Sunday, one of the holiest days of the Christian year. Stopped by police before they could reach City Hall, they kneel to pray before being arrested. Other protesters, ranging from 17 to 78 years old, are also arrested. Police use dogs to scatter non-violent onlookers. , "Those sidewalks on 6th Avenue from 16th St. Baptist Church to City Hall are as sacred as the ground at Valley Forge." , David J. Vann , Birmingham Mayor 1975-79 , Lesson A4: Sing the words "We Shall Overcome" from sign A4 to sign A5, just as original marchers may have done in this very trail.