Civil rights leader better after pneumonia

The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, a civil rights leader during the 1950s and 1960s, continues to improve from the pneumonia and dehydration that led to his hospitalization in Alabama a week ago. His wife, Sephira Shuttlesworth, said Friday that her 86-year-old husband has been moved out of the intensive care unit at St. Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham, Ala, but is expected to remain at the hospital for at least several more days. The civil rights leader was unconscious when hospitalized December 27, but his wife says he regained consciousness Monday and has made gradual improvement since then. Shuttlesworth moved to Cincinnati in 1961 after helping lead the fight against segregation of schools and public facilities in Birmingham. He returned to suburban Birmingham in February for rehabilitation after a mild stroke.

(Associated Press)