Support: Local and Organizational - Montgomery, AL / USA - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

Near Early and Oak Streets

The civil rights movement in Montgomery was born from the support of both organized groups and individual residents. The day-in-day-out support came from local citizens, who were guided by groups on both the local and the national level.

The Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was formed in Montgomery at Mt. Zion AME Zion Church on December 5, 1955 by black ministers and community leaders. Under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Edgar Nixon, the MIA was instrumental in guiding the Montgomery bus boycott the nonviolent protest campaign that first focused national attention on segregation and catapulted King into the national spotlight. The MIA utilized carpools and weekly gatherings with sermons and music to keep morale high.

The MIA coordinated with the larger National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) on legal challenges to the city's bus segregation ordinance. The MIA helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in January 1957. The SCLC and the national Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), founded in 1960, brought different approaches to activism. These newer groups, along with the MIA, relied on mass mobilization rather than litigation and legislation to advance the rights of black citizens. Ultimately the organizations and the individuals guaranteed the legacy of the movement.

Group that erected the marker: City of Montgomery Interpretive Sign Number Three Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: 1304 Oak Street Montgomery, AL USA 36108 URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed

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