The City of St Jude, long a refuge for African Americans, hosted marchers on the last night of their journey. This religious complex, named for the patron saint of impossible situations, included a school, church, and hospital on a 36-acre campus that could accommodate thousands of marchers. Sleeping tents, food stations, and a first aid center on the grounds helped treat sunburned skin, sore feet, and exhaustion. Founded in the mid-1930s by Catholic priest Father Harold Purcell, St. Jude served the poor, sick, and disadvantaged. When St. Jude's Hospital opened in 1951, it was the only integrated hospital in the Southeast, and the church also set an early example of nondiscrimination by welcoming an integrated prayer group as early as the 1950s.

Photo: Mark Hilton

Photo: Mark Hilton

Montgomery, Alabama · USA