Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his "Letter from Birmingham Jail" after being arrested and booked on April 12, 1963. (Birmingham Police Department)
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was observed with events throughout the city and extended to Washington D.C. where Rep. Terri Sewell marked today by reading an excerpt of the famous treatise.
Sewell, D-Birmingham, used her time on the House of Representatives floor to read a portion of the letter.
"The letter became one of the most preeminent documents of the civil rights era," Sewell told her colleagues. "Letter from a Birmingham Jail stands as a reminder of how far we have come in our nation in living up to the ideals of justice and equality for all."
King's letter was written while he was in solitary confinement in the Birmingham jail for violating orders against civil rights demonstrations.
King read an article in the Birmingham News entitled "White Clergymen Urge Local Negroes to Withdraw from Demonstrations," in which he was urged to refrain from protesting.
King's now famous letter was written on scraps of paper as a response. It was a defense of civil rights methods and a scolding of white moderates who urged more patience when it came to social change.
The letter has since been translated into dozens of languages.
Activities in Birmingham included readings of the letter, discussions of its significance and the unveiling of a historic landmark sign in from of the old city jail detailing its significance. King's daughter, Bernice King, participated in the ceremony.