We strengthen civic ties and create meaningful and fruitful connections for those who are here. We work with government, businesses, educational institutions, and community partners to ensure a welcoming environment that helps newcomers find success and opportunity in our region.
With hundreds of thousands of attendees each year, we create events and experiences that drive vibrancy in our region. Beyond what we produce, we’re deeply engaged and invested in growing the region’s cultural vibrancy by supporting arts, culture, sports, and entertainment assets and investments.
Through bold leadership, advocacy and partnerships with city, county, state and federal policy makers the Cincinnati Regional Chamber advances a pro-business and pro-development policy initiatives that stimulate and grow our regional economy.
We create member experiences, connections, and programming that meet the unique needs of businesses in our region. We’re a driver of regional collaboration, ensuring that our diverse civic and business communities are aligned, engaged, and have their voices heard.
Home » Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth
We strengthen civic ties and create meaningful and fruitful connections for those who are here. We work with government, businesses, educational institutions, and community partners to ensure a welcoming environment that helps newcomers find success and opportunity in our region.
Through bold leadership, advocacy and partnerships with city, county, state and federal policy makersthe Cincinnati Regional Chamber advances a pro-business and pro-development policy initiatives that stimulate and grow our regional economy.
With hundreds of thousands of attendees each year, we create events and experiences that drive vibrancy in our region. Beyond what we produce, we’re deeply engaged and invested in growing the region’s cultural vibrancy by supporting arts, culture, sports, and entertainment assets and investments.
We create member experiences, connections, and programming that meet the unique needs of businesses in our region. We’re a driver of regional collaboration, ensuring that our diverse civic and business communities are aligned, engaged, and have their voices heard.
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Celebrating the leadership, vision, tenacity, and love of community shared by the recipients of the Great Living Cincinnatian Award, presented annually by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber since 1967.
It was Christmas, 1956, and the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth had gone to bed early in the parsonage of Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. Out of the darkness, dynamite exploded outside his bedroom, sending him tumbling through broken glass and lumber into the basement. Incredibly, he and his family survived the malicious bombing.
That incident marked the first of three times Rev. Shuttlesworth was nearly killed fighting segregation. His persistence placed him among “the big three” in the civil rights movement – alongside Dr. Martin Luther King and the Rev. Ralph Abernathy.
In 1961, the Alabama native moved to Cincinnati to pastor at the Revelation Baptist Church in the West End, but returned often to Birmingham to lead demonstrations for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Those protests led directly to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
He was pastor at the church he founded in 1966 – the Greater New Light Baptist Church, located on Fred Shuttlesworth Circle in Avondale – until March 19, 2006.
In 1988, Rev. Shuttlesworth established the Shuttlesworth Housing Foundation to award grants of $500 to $2,000 to poverty-level families to assist home purchases. As of November 1999, the foundation has assisted 460 low-income families.
“In the struggle for brotherhood, I consider that I have done so little,” he said. “I wish I could do more and will continue to do all I can until I leave here.”
Rev. Shuttlesworth died on October 5, 2011 at the age of 89 in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama.
Recipients are selected from candidates by the Cincinnati Chamber’s senior council based on the following criteria: – Community service – Business and civic attainment on a local, state and national or international level – Leadership – Awareness of the needs of others – Distinctive accomplishments that have brought favorable attention to their community, institution or organization
The Cincinnati Regional Chamber is the premier business and civic organization dedicated to growing the vibrancy and economic prosperity of the Cincinnati region. To achieve its vision that Cincinnati is a growing, thriving region where everyone belongs, the Chamber seeks to grow our economy, grow our population, and grow our cultural vibrancy -- with the foundation of a strong business community -- to foster a welcoming environment for all.
Discover all a Cincinnati Chamber membership offers you, your business, and your team.