Druid Hills in Birmingham in Jefferson County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)

Shuttlesworth Returns to Birmingham

March Route Towards a Purposeful Life

— Birmingham Civil Rights Heritage Trail —

Shuttlesworth Returns to Birmingham Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, December 5, 2021

1. Shuttlesworth Returns to Birmingham Marker

Inscription. Birmingham's new leaders were much kinder to Rev. Shuttlesworth than their predecessors. In 1978, officials renamed one of the city's main roads in his honor. The city's first African-American mayor, Richard Arrington, Jr., requested his return in 1988 to assist with fundraising and providing historical guidance in creating the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Opening to the public in November 1992, it features a larger-than-life statue of Rev. Shuttlesworth near its entrance to honor his tireless work to revolutionize the "most racially segregated big city in the South.” In 2001 and 2002, he returned to Birmingham as federal prosecutors re-opened the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing case, successfully convicting the last two living bombers in two trials. In 2006, he married educator Sephira Bailey.

Paired marker
2005
At the insistence of Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford, Birmingham's airport authority on July 16, 2008, approved renaming the city's airport in honor of Rev. Shuttlesworth. On October 27, 2008, the airport was officially renamed the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport,

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highlighting the fiery leader's iconic role in the American Civil Rights Movement both in Birmingham and nationally. A few years after suffering a stroke and undergoing a long rehabilitation, he and his second wife, Sephira, moved back to Birmingham permanently.

"He was the linchpin. Birmingham would not have happened had it not been for Fred Shuttlesworth."
Rev. Wyatt T. Walker
Civil Rights Leader, SCLC Executive Director under Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Lesson E19: What important Civil Rights lessons should never be forgotten?

Erected by the Birmingham Civil Rights Heritage Trail. (Marker Number E19.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Air & Space • Civil Rights. In addition, it is included in the Birmingham Civil Rights Heritage Trail series list. A significant historical date for this entry is July 16, 2008.

Location. 33° 31.609′ N, 86° 48.953′ W. Marker is in Birmingham, Alabama, in Jefferson County. It is in Druid Hills. It is on 19th Street North north of F L Shuttlesworth Drive, on the right when traveling north. Located near Arthur Shores Park.

Shuttlesworth Returns to Birmingham Paired Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton

2. Shuttlesworth Returns to Birmingham Paired Marker

Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Birmingham AL 35234, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the American South

and specifically in the Deep South.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Shuttlesworth after the Civil Rights Era (within shouting distance of this marker); Death of an Icon (within shouting distance of this marker); Shuttlesworth in Selma (within shouting distance of this marker); Shuttlesworth Continues the Struggle (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Oak Hill Cemetery (about 400 feet away); In Memory of the Pioneers (about 500 feet away); Capt. Charles Linn (about 500 feet away); Paying the Ultimate Price (about 600 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Birmingham.

Regarding Shuttlesworth Returns to Birmingham. The

Photographed by Mark Hilton, December 5, 2021

3. Shuttlesworth Returns to Birmingham Marker

Civil Rights Activist Committee “Home of the Foot Soldiers“ is the Information Center for the Birmingham Civil Rights Heritage Trail.

Credits. This page was last revised on January 8, 2022. It was originally submitted on December 6, 2021, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 370 times since then and 35 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on December 6, 2021, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.