Dividing lines : municipal politics and the struggle for civil rights in Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma / J. Mills Thornton III.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thornton, J. Mills, 1943-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Civil rights movements--Alabama--History--20th century.

Civil rights movements.

African Americans--Civil rights--Alabama.

African Americans.

Political culture--Alabama--History--20th century.

Political culture.

History.

African Americans--Civil rights.

Montgomery (Ala.)--Politics and government--20th century.

Montgomery (Ala.).

Birmingham (Ala.)--Politics and government--20th century.

Birmingham (Ala.).

Selma (Ala.)--Politics and government--20th century.

Selma (Ala.).

Alabama.

Physical Description:

xi, 733 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Tuscaloosa : University of Alabama Press, [2002]

Summary:

With this bold offering from two decades of research, J. Mills Thornton III presents the story of the civil rights movement from the perspective of community-municipal history at the grassroots level. Thornton demonstrates that the movement had powerful local sources in its three birth cities--Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma. There, the arcane mechanisms of state and city governance and the missteps of municipal politicians and civic leaders--independent of emerging national trends in racial mores--led to the great swell of energy for change that became the civil rights movement.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [585]-696) and index.

ISBN:

081731170X

OCLC:

49494997