The Albany Movement began at Shiloh Baptist Church in November 1961 as a coalition of black improvement associations and student activists from SNCC and Albany State College sought the desegregation of an entire community, from bus stations to lunch counters. Demonstrations over two years resulted in the detention of 1,500 protesters, and the participation and repeated arrests of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. brought national attention to the movement. Music sustained the campaign in Southwest Georgia and gave birth to the SNCC Freedom Singers. Legal action and increased black voter registration led to school desegregation, the end of public employee discrimination, and the election of black political officials in the region. Lessons learned there influenced events in Birmingham in 1963.