We hope to show you something that has never been seen
before in Birmingham, something you will all be proud of.

-- ACMHR treasurer William S. Shortridge

Almost two months before the cataclysmic demonstrations in 1963, Bir-
mingham police officer W. E. Chilcoat noticed speakers at mass meetings
tipping off ACMHR members of something momentous in the offing. At an
early February mass meeting, Bill Shortridge hinted that the big event would
occur in March, and Ed Gardner spoke of the need to "mix politics with reli-
gion. Connecting their civil rights activism to the traditional evangelistic lan-
guage of the "Great Commission" ( Matt. 28:19-20), Gardner intoned, "We have
got to observe all things. We have got to teach others. Teach Bull Connor things.
Teach George Wallace things. The church must take the lead. For his part,
Shuttlesworth, operating this night on a somewhat less lofty plane, seemed con-
cerned that he was not getting his due from the congregation: "You are not like
some audiences," he complained. "They go wild when they see me. But to see
this large crowd does me good." He reminded them of a recently televised pro-
gram on religion and race, noting, "I'm in the picture. King's in the picture. I
made the closing statements in that picture." ¹

Fred's occasional boastful comparisons to King reflected a concern not to be
outshone now that King and the SCLC were coming to his turf. On such occa-
sions Shuttlesworth could appear to nonpartisans as petty in his concern for
personal glory. Some of that was no doubt there, but Shuttlesworth was not con-
sumed by feelings of competition with King. Rather, after seven years of dif-
ficult work, he wanted to be sure that ACMHR members -- and, of course, their
leader -- got the credit they deserved now that the national press was finally
poised to follow King into Birmingham. As cameras began to roll, Shuttles-
worth insisted that he and the ACMHR faithful remain in the picture not just
for the sake of self-aggrandizement but also to be sure that King and the SCLC
ultimately held Birmingham's feet to the fire. On the day after the election,
"a fire you can't put out" was set to overwhelm Birmingham. This chapter

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