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Students Re-Enact 1963 March Against Segregation

Birmingham News/Birmingham Bar Foundation

More than 1,000 students are retracing a landmark civil rights march in Birmingham.

Students from a dozen high schools and colleges marched from the city's 16th Street Baptist Church on Thursday to mark the 50th anniversary of the Children's Crusade against racial segregation in 1963.

The march 50 years ago was led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and ended with city leaders unleashing fire hoses and police dogs on demonstrators. The ghastly images that showed the depth of racial turmoil in the South. More than 2,500 youth were arrested over two days. Public outcry helped spur passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The commemoration was peaceful, with police guarding protesters and clapping along with a marching band. Participants from 50 years ago will meet with re-enactors.

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