Bull Connor, DEMOCRAT. (July 11, 1897 – March 10, 1973), was the Commissioner of Public Safety for the city of Birmingham, Alabama, during the American Civil Rights Movement. His office, under the city commission government, gave him responsibility for administrative oversight of the Birmingham Fire Department and the Birmingham Police Department, which had their own chiefs.Connor’s actions to enforce racial segregation and deny civil rights to Black citizens, especially during the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Birmingham campaign of 1963, made him an international symbol of racism. Bull Connor directed the use of fire hoses and police attack dogs against civil rights activists, that included the children of many protesters. These tactics exposed the extent of racism when shown on national television. They served as one of the catalysts for major social and legal change in the Southern United States and contributed to passage by the United States Congress of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Bull Connor, DEMOCRAT. (July 11, 1897 – March 10, 1973), was the Commissioner of Public Safety for the city of Birmingham, Alabama, during the American Civil Rights Movement. His office, under the city commission government, gave him responsibility for administrative oversight of the Birmingham Fire Department and the Birmingham Police Department, which had their own chiefs.Connor’s actions to enforce racial segregation and deny civil rights to Black citizens, especially during the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Birmingham campaign of 1963, made him an international symbol of racism. Bull Connor directed the use of fire hoses and police attack dogs against civil rights activists, that included the children of many protesters. These tactics exposed the extent of racism when shown on national television. They served as one of the catalysts for major social and legal change in the Southern United States and contributed to passage by the United States Congress of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.