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Shuttlesworth established the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and moved forward with his plans. He moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to be a pastor at the Revelation Baptist Church. While still staying fully involved with Birmingham, he co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Fred was a secretary alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. While MLK did the public speeches, Fred took action to set up physical movements. During his pastoring in Ohio and SCLC, he went to sit-ins with the Freedom Riders in 1961. The Riders had a lot of run-ins with the law. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy personally gave Fred his number in case he needed it for any legal situations. Fred had called MLK to lead the Project C campaign and was convicted of parading without permit from the City Commission. The case went to U.S. Supreme Court, known as Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham. However, the parade permit was denied, and he was let go.
Fred had multiple setbacks, often being beaten with both whips and chains. The whites hosed him into a building and threw a bomb at him at a church, but a bystander threw it across the street before it went off saving numerous people.
Shuttlesworth had countless accomplishments. In 1996, Greater New Light Baptist Church was formed. In 1998 Fred organized the Shuttlesworth Housing Foundation, and its proceeds provide grants to hundreds of low-income families. He was also an early signer and supporter of the Birmingham Pledge, a statement of principles. In 2001, Fred was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton. In August of 2004, he was named the President of Southern Christian Leadership Conference but resigned a year later because he did not agree with the actions it was taking. He also received an award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the disadvantaged, given out annually by Jefferson Awards. Fred organized the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights which raises funds for human rights and directs action campaigns.
Shuttlesworth gave his final sermon in front of 300 hundred people at Greater New Light Baptist Church on March 19, 2006. At the age of 89 he died on October 5, 2011 leaving behind four children and a wife. Fred was one of many to help with the Civil Rights Movement, but he was one of the many big ones that people never noticed. It isn’t all about who makes the speeches, but who takes action to stand up for what is right.
During Christmas 1956, there was a bomb thrown in his bedroom. The house and everything around him was destroyed, but he lived and started fighting harder than before until the Civil Rights Movement came to a stop.
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