For years, Birmingham, Alabama, was considered “the South’s toughest
city,” home to a large black population and a dominant class of
whites that met in frequent, open hostility.
Birmingham in 1963 had become the cause célèbre of the black civil
rights movement as non-violent demonstrators led by Rev. Martin
Luther King Jr. repeatedly faced jail, dogs and high-velocity hoses
in their tireless quest to topple segregation.
This picture of people being pummelled by a liquid battering ram
rallied support for the plight of the blacks.
