1963 – Birmingham: Birmingham, Alabama was one of the most
severely segregated cities in the 1960s. Black men and women
held sit-ins at lunch counters where they were refused service, and
"kneel-ins” on church steps where they were denied entrance.
Hundreds of demonstrators were fined and imprisoned
Birmingham: April 12, 1963: “Public Statement by Eight Alabama
Clergymen.”
Birmingham: In May 1963, Dr. King, the Reverend Abernathy and the
Reverend Shuttlesworth lead a protest march in Birmingham. The
protestors were met with policemen and dogs. The three ministers
were arrested and taken to Southside Jail. Dr. King was held in
solitary confinement for three days, during which he wrote,
smuggled out of jail, and had printed his “Letter from Birmingham
Jail,” a profoundly moving justification for the moral necessity of
non-violent resistance to unjust laws.
Birmingham: In September 1963, the Ku Klux Klan bombed the
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, killing four little girls who, dressed
in the “Youth Sunday” best, were preparing to lead the 11:00 am
adult service. The bombing came without warning. Since 1911, this
church had served as the center of life for Birmingham’s African
American community. By the end of the day, riots and fires had
broken out throughout Birmingham and another 2 teenagers were
dead. This murderous act shocked the nation and galvanized the
civil rights movement.
severely segregated cities in the 1960s. Black men and women
held sit-ins at lunch counters where they were refused service, and
"kneel-ins” on church steps where they were denied entrance.
Hundreds of demonstrators were fined and imprisoned
Birmingham: April 12, 1963: “Public Statement by Eight Alabama
Clergymen.”
Birmingham: In May 1963, Dr. King, the Reverend Abernathy and the
Reverend Shuttlesworth lead a protest march in Birmingham. The
protestors were met with policemen and dogs. The three ministers
were arrested and taken to Southside Jail. Dr. King was held in
solitary confinement for three days, during which he wrote,
smuggled out of jail, and had printed his “Letter from Birmingham
Jail,” a profoundly moving justification for the moral necessity of
non-violent resistance to unjust laws.
Birmingham: In September 1963, the Ku Klux Klan bombed the
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, killing four little girls who, dressed
in the “Youth Sunday” best, were preparing to lead the 11:00 am
adult service. The bombing came without warning. Since 1911, this
church had served as the center of life for Birmingham’s African
American community. By the end of the day, riots and fires had
broken out throughout Birmingham and another 2 teenagers were
dead. This murderous act shocked the nation and galvanized the
civil rights movement.
| 16th Street Baptist Church |
| West Park (Kelly Ingram Park) |
| Letter from a Birmingham Jail |
| Condoleezza Rice is an intriguing mix of boots, brains, and bravado. Here’s the true story of how a little black girl from Birmingham rose to become the most powerful woman in the world |
| Fred Shuttlesworth (born Freddie Lee Robinson on March 18, 1922) is a civil rights activist who led the fight against segregation and other forms of racism as a minister in Birmingham, Alabama. He continues to work against racism and for alleviation of the problems of the homeless in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he took up a pastorate in 1961 |
| Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944 in Birmingham, Alabama) is an American socialist organizer and professor who was associated with the Black Panther Party (BPP) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Davis's main association, however, was her membership in the Communist Party USA. She first achieved nationwide notoriety when she was linked to the murder of Judge Harold Haley during an attempted Black Panther prison break; she fled underground, and was the subject of an intense manhunt. She was eventually captured, arrested, tried, and eventually acquitted in one of the most famous trials in recent U.S. history. She is currently Professor of History of Consciousness at the University of California and Presidential Chair at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She works for racial and gender equality and for prison abolition. Davis is a founder of the anti-prison grassroots organization Critical Resistance |
| The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame was founded in 1978, and opened a museum on September 18, 1993 with a mission "to foster, encourage, educate, and cultivate a general appreciation of the medium of jazz music as a legitimate, original and distinctive art form indigenous to America. Its mission is also to preserve a continued and sustained program of illuminating the contribution of the State of Alabama through its citizens, environment, demographics and lore, and perpetuating the heritage of jazz music." Located in the Civil Rights District along with the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum, Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and Kelly Ingram Park, it offers visitors a chance to immerse themselves in the state's rich jazz heritage. The museum contains more than 2,200-square-feet of exhibits. |
| The Birmingham Civil Rights District exemplifies ground-zero for the Civil Rights Movement. Events which took place here stirred the ire of the world, and finally awakened the conscience of America. Established in 1992, the Birmingham Civil Rights District is a six-block tribute to the monumental struggle for human rights in the US. The area ranges from Sixth to Second Avenue North, and from Fifteenth to Nineteenth Street in the heart of downtown Birmingham. The district includes the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Kelly Ingram Park, Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, and the Fourth Avenue Business District. |
| Birmingham’s Civil Rights District |
