After extensive discussion, the SCLC was founded by Martin Luther King, Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth, Bayard Rustin, and others. King was elected as the first president and Abernathy served as the treasurer.
The SCLC did not seek individual members, but instead coordinated the civil rights activities of local organizations. The SCLC was involved in several protest campaigns. These included the desegregation of downtown Birmingham, Alabama, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, voting rights in Selma, Alabama, and various sit-ins and voter registration drives. In addition, in an effort to put the civil rights movement in moral terms, the SCLC coordinated the activities of black churches.
In the late 1960s, the group shifted focus from civil rights to attacking poverty. Under the belief that poverty was the cause of inner-city violence, the SCLC organized the Poor People’s Campaign. The campaign took affect after King’s assassination in 1968 under the leadership of the new president, Ralph Abernathy. However, with the absence of King, the campaign was not effective in initiating the enactment of legislation. The campaign ended on June 19, 1968.
The SCLC is still in existence today. It focuses it efforts on hate crimes, discrimination, and police brutality.
