Albany 1961

Albany became the focus of America’s civil rights struggle in 1961, when the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) mobilised students to protest about segregation. Formed in November 1961 by SNCC and NAACP, the Albany Movement used nonviolent protest to challenge the discrimination and disenfranchisement inherent in the South.

Albany’s bus centre became the focus of the demonstrations. On 1 November 1961 the Interstate Commerce Commission’s ban of segregation on interstate transport went into effect. However, segregation was so institutionalised that nothing changed. In protest of this, Albany protesters used various methods of nonviolence to pressure the city authorities into action, including mass demonstrations, sit-ins and boycotts. By December 1961, more than 500 protesters were jailed.

Faced with a dwindling number of protestors, the Albany movement invited Martin Luther King to join the protest. He arrived 15 December 1961 and led a march of 250 demonstrators to City Hall. All of the protesters were arrested. However, the courteous treatment by the police lessened the effect of these arrests - there were no ‘martyrs’ and no national outrage.