BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA - Birmingham Airport Authority along with the City of Birmingham hosted a luncheon honoring Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth by renaming Birmingham International Airport for the civil rights leader.
On hand for the luncheon were several members of the Shuttlesworth family, Foot Soldiers from the civil rights movement, Dr. Pijeaux from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Reverend Thomas Wilder of the Historic Bethel Baptist Church, Rev. Arthur Price, Jr. of the Sixtieth Street Baptist Church and Cecil Thomas, Birmingham native member of the Cincinnati City Council.
On July 16, the Airport Authority Board of Directors in a called meeting unanimously voted to change the airport's name from "Birmingham International Airport" to "Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport." The vote came after a resolution was passed and endorsed by the mayor and Birmingham City Council on June 24, 2008.
Reverend Shuttlesworth was a civil rights pioneer in Birmingham, Alabama. Shuttlesworth played a central part in the leadership that marched from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 which in part led to the Civil Rights Act. Shuttlesworth continued his work with organizing the local movement of the freedom riders in Alabama.