Black History Month - The Southern Christian Leadership Conference - 2/13

Fifty six years ago tomorrow, the Southern Leadership Conference—which six months later became the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)—established its board of directors and elected its first group of officers, including Martin Luther King, Jr., as president.

Formed less than two months after the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA)achieved bus desegregation through the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the SCLC had its roots in a January 1957 meeting between civil rights groups wishing to coordinate protest activities throughout the South.

A racially mixed group, the SCLC stressed nonviolent mass action and organizational cooperation as a means toward ending racial segregation and discrimination.

Well known for its commitment to voter registration through its “Crusade for Citizenship,” the SCLC did not function simply as an independent organization, but rather acted as an umbrella under which civil rights groups across the South could organize mass action. Leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Andrew Young, and Ralph Abernathy coordinated protests throughout many states.

To learn more about the SCLC's history, visit their official website.