Movement To End Segregation

Martin Luther King Jr and other members of the Albany Movement were arrested on December 16th 1961 when they knelt in prayer.

On the steps of the Albany, Georgia city hall on, Saturday December 16th 1961 Martin Luther King Jr, Ralph David Abernathy, the president of the Albany Movement William G Anderson and 263 African Americans were arrested, when they knelt to pray for the release of hundreds of demonstrators from jail. King and the others were taken to the Sumter County jail in Americus, Georgia. The lock up was run by Sheriff Fred Chappell, who King said was the "the meanest man in the world." King was sentenced to forty-five days in jail or a fine of $178 on the charge of obstructing the sidewalk, he choose to serve the time. Three days letter his fine was discreetly paid and King was released.

The Albany Movement was a coalition created to end segregation in Albany, Georgia by locals, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the NAACP. The movement was headed by a local African American physician William G Anderson. In December of 1961 the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and King joined the movement. Although the Albany Movement attracted national attention and brought in thousand of members it did not accomplish its goals.