Event To Commemorate 61st Anniversary Of Bloody Tuesday

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Organizers have announced the 61st anniversary of Bloody Tuesday event is set for the afternoon of June 8 at Tuscaloosa's First African Baptist Church.

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The event will begin at 3 p.m. with music and videos inspired by occurrences on June 9, 1964 — a date known as "Bloody Tuesday" after hundreds of Black demonstrators were attacked by local police and deputized citizens as they attempted to protest segregated accommodations at the newly built Tuscaloosa County Courthouse.

Officials said 100 marchers went to jail, 33 were hospitalized and many more received care at the The Howard-Linton Barbershop. It is considered the largest assault and invasion of a Black church by law enforcement during the Civil Rights Movement.

ALSO READ: The Ghosts Of Bloody Tuesday: Remembering 'Tuscaloosa's Freedom Summer'

Attendees to the anniversary event will be treated to a choir of over 35 voices signing freedom songs, which organizers say will echo sounds of the old historical T. Y. Rogers Memorial Choir.

Guest speakers at the event will be Rev. David E. Gay, Jr. of Beulah Baptist Church; University of Alabama professor and author John Giggie, who recently published a book "Bloody Tuesday: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Tuscaloosa; and Rev. Dr. Vernon Swift of Elizabeth Baptist Church.

ALSO READ: Former Stillman Professor Honored For Role In Local Civil Rights Movement

Giggie will also host a book signing at the reception, along with other attractions such as photos from Bloody Tuesday and visits with some of the Foot Soldiers who were there.

First African Baptist Church is located at 2621 Stillman Boulevard in Tuscaloosa.

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