ded many devoted protesters who were willing to protest as long as necessary to achieve their goal and who were also willing to be arrested and sent to jail. Their first campaign began in 1961 in Albany, Georgia. Here, the organization joined local demonstrations against segregated public facilities. The presence of SCLC and King greatly strengthened the Albany protests by bringing national attention and additional people to the demonstrations. However, the demonstrations did not force negotiations to end segregation. During months of protest, Albany's police chief continued to jail demonstrators without a show of police violence, and the Albany protests failed. In the spring of 1963, however, the direct-action strategy worked. In Birmingham, Alabama. The SCLC joined the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, a local civil rights leader, who believed that the Birmingham police commissioner would meet protesters with violence. In May the SCLC staff stepped up the anti-segregation marches by persuading teenagers and school children to join. The singing and chanting adolescents who filled the streets of Birmingham caused Connor to lose his temper. The belligerent commissioner ordered police to attack demonstrators with dogs and firefighters to turn high-pressure water hoses on them. This violence was shown throughout the nation and the world in newspapers, magazines, and most importantly, on television. Much of the world was shocked by the events in Birmingham, and the reaction to the violence increased support for black civil rights. In Birmingham white leaders promised to negotiate an end to some segregation practices. Business leaders agreed to hire and promote more black employees and to desegregate some public accommodations. More important, however, the Birmingham demonstrations built support for national legislation against segregation. Southern Colleges get Desegregated In 1962 a black man from Mississippi, James Meredith, applied for admiss...
