Albany+Campaign

The Albany Campaign was a desegregation coalition formed on November 17, 1961. The group was formed by representatives from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Ministerial Alliance, the Federation of Women's Clubs, and the Negro Voters League. The Albany Campaign conducted a broad campaign in Albany, Georgia, with the purpose of challenging all forms of segregation and discrimination. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference temporarily joined the coalition, which attracted national attention to Albany. The founders of the Albany Movement were William G. Anderson, a local doctor, and Slater King, who was a realtor. The Albany Movement aimed to end all forms of racial segregation in the city, focusing initially on desegregating travel facilities, forming a permanent biracial committee to discuss further desegregation, and the release of those jailed in segregation protests.

Albany protestors utilized various forms of nonviolent protest, including mass demonstrations, sit-ins, jail-ins and boycotts. The Albany Campaign involved student activists as well as large numbers of black adults of varied class backrounds. Albany police chief at the time, Laurie Pritchett responded to the demonstrations with mass arrests, in an attempt to resist public brutality. More than 500 protestors were jailed by December 1961. This led president of the Albany Campaign, William Anderson, to call upon Martin Luther King Jr. to reinvigorate the movement. MLK arrived in Albany on December 15 and spoke to a mass meeting at the Shiloh Baptist Church.