Dexter Avenue Baptist Church

Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery was central to the Montgomery Bus Boycott during the civil rights movement. Dr. Vernon Johns led the congregation from 1947-52 and, foreshadowing the actions of Rosa Parks, defied the law that created a "whites-only" section on public transportation. The church's most famous pastor, Martin Luther King Jr. , led the congregation from 1954-60, during the early years of the modern civil rights movement.
Courtesy of the George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs, Carol Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division