in the marches. On May 5, protestors marched to the city jail where many young people were being held and continued practicing their tactics of non-violent demonstrations. Jail cells were filled to capacity with children, and there were not enough police to manage the children. Federal response Before the Children's March, federal response was limited in an effort to balance federal authority and state rights. The Children's March played a pivotal role in ending legal segregation, as the media coverage of the event further brought the plight of Southern African Americans to the national stage. After additional measures were taken, President Kennedy could not avoid the issue, and on June 11, 1963, presented his intentions to establish new federal civil rights legislation and ended segregation in Birmingham: Aftermath After the march, the Civil Rights Movement regained momentum, and on August 28 Dr. King led the March on Washington where he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. But on September 15, the Ku Klux Klan bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church, killing four African American girls, and on November 22 President Kennedy was assassinated. It was President Lyndon B. Johnson who saw the controversial 1964 Civil Rights Act through, a victory for the Civil Rights Movement made possible because of the children of Birmingham. The children who died in the church bombing were Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, and Carole Robertson, all 14, and Denise McNair, 11. See also Timeline of the civil rights movement Mighty Times: The Children's March American Heroes Channel: "What History Forgot" Season 2, Episode 5 References Further reading Reading Clayborne Carson, ed., The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., (New York, NY: Warner Books, Inc., 1998) M. S. Handler, "Malcolm X Terms Dr. King’s Tactics Futile," The New York Times, May 11, 1963 Folk music Phil Ochs, song, Talking Birmingham Jam, performed at the Newport Folk Festival, July 26–28, 1963, released on Newport Broadside, 1964 and Live at Newport, 1966 External links Children's Crusade in the King Encyclopedia The Birmingham Campaign – Civil Rights Movement Archive 1963 in Alabama African-American history in Birmingham, Alabama Civil rights movement Civil rights protests in the United States History of African-American civil rights History of Alabama History of Birmingham, Alabama Protests in Alabama Protest marches Student protests in the United States