In 1963, the Civil Rights movement was falling apart. After a series of setbacks across the south, the movement was losing direction and momentum. No southern city was more divided than Birmingham, Alabama, home of the infamous Bull Connor.
In 1957, Little Rock Central High School became a symbol of the Civil Rights Movement when, in defiance of federal orders to integrate the school, the Governor of Arkansas called out the National Guard to prevent nine African-American students from entering the building.
In 1961, segregation seemed to have an overwhelming grip on American society. Many states violently enforced the policy, while the federal government, under the Kennedy administration, remained indifferent, preoccupied with matters abroad.
