Birmingham, AL (October 20) — Three days of  events will give the public the opportunity to pay tribute to the late Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, the civil rights leader historians credited with leading the movement in this city that helped changed the nation.

Rev. Shuttlesworth passed away after a long illness in Birmingham on October 5. Many of his civil rights colleagues, ministers and elected officials are expected to come to Birmingham to participate in events.

The events will begin Saturday, October 22, with a memorial service at his beloved Bethel Baptist Church in the Collegeville community where he was Pastor from 1953 until 1961.  There he will lie in repose from 1:30pm until 4:00pm for the public viewing.

On Sunday, October 23, Reverend Shuttlesworth will lie in repose at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute from 10am until 6pm where the public will be invited to bid farewell.  Then at 6pm, the public is invited to attend a Pastoral Remembrance at the historic 16th Street Baptist Church across the street from the Civil Rights Institute. That will be followed by a Bright Light vigil in Kelly Ingram Park.

Also on Sunday, there will be an Historical Tribute at the Birmingham Museum of Art. That discussion will be led by Birmingham native and Pulitzer Prize winning author Diane McWhorter.

The panel, which will be held in the BMA’s Steiner Auditorium, will be co-moderated by Robert G. Corley, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Confirmed panelists include Howell Raines, former editor of The New York Times; Marjorie White, director of the Birmingham Historical Society; retired U.S. District Court Judge U.W. Clemon Andrew Manis, award-winning author of the Shuttlesworth biography A Fire You Can’t Put Out; Mark Kelly, publisher of Weld; Birmingham archivist Jim Baggett; Odessa Woolfolk, educator, activist and Birmingham Civil Rights Institute founder; Bishop Calvin Woods, president of the Birmingham Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; long-time Shuttlesworth associate Colonel Stone Johnson; activist Eileen Kelley Walbert; Freedom Rider Catherine Burks-Brooks; lifelong Sixteen Street Baptist Church member and activist Carolyn McKinstry; former detective Dan Jordan, and Judy Hand-Truitt, who worked with Shuttlesworth in the post-civil rights era.

The panel discussion is open to the public. Educators and students are especially invited. Admission to the Museum is free. On Monday, October 24 at 10:00am, a final high profile legacy service will be held at Faith Chapel Christian Center 100 Lexington Street in Birmingham.  Internment will follow at Oak Hill Cemetery.
Local television stations will be on hand to broadcast the funeral live from Faith Chapel. The public can also watch via the internet at www.faithchapel.tv.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Malena Cunningham  205-746-9942
Willie Chriesman  205-223-3010