The A.G. Gaston Motel is a historic building and former
motel in
Birmingham, Alabama.
In 1963 during the
Civil Rights movement, the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference used a room in the hotel as their headquarters, which was later bombed by terrorists.
History
Built in 1954 by local businessman
A. G. Gaston
Arthur George Gaston (Demopolis, Alabama, July 4, 1892 – Birmingham, Alabama, January 19, 1996) was an American businessman who established a number of businesses in Birmingham, Alabama, and who played a significant role in the movement to ...
.
It served as premium accommodation for African American travelers and was listed in
The Negro Motorist Green Book, a travel guide.
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference used room 30 as its headquarters for leaders such as
Martin Luther King Jr.,
Ralph Abernathy,
Fred Shuttlesworth
Frederick Lee Shuttlesworth (born Fred Lee Robinson, March 18, 1922 – October 5, 2011) was a U.S. civil rights activist who led the fight against segregation and other forms of racism as a minister in Birmingham, Alabama. He was a co-founder o ...
, and others, to plan portions of the 1963
Birmingham campaign of the
civil rights movement.
On May 10, 1963, the motel was bombed by white supremacist terrorists.
After discrimination in public accommodation was outlawed, the motel's business declined in the 1970s. It was used as
senior housing
A retirement home – sometimes called an old people's home or old age home, although ''old people's home'' can also refer to a nursing home – is a multi-residence housing facility intended for the elderly. Typically, each person or couple i ...
from 1982 to 1996.
Since 2017 it is owned in part by the
Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, the
National Park Service, and the City of Birmingham.
It has been designated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of America's National Treasures. In summer of 2023, the site is set to open to the public for history tours.
See also
*
List of national monuments of the United States
References
Further reading
* Marie A. Sutton, ''The A.G. Gaston Motel in Birmingham: A Civil Rights Landmark'', Arcadia Publishing, 2014.
External links
A.G. Gaston Motelon the
National Park Service website.
A.G. Gaston Motelon the
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...
website.
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Motels in the United States
Buildings and structures in Birmingham, Alabama
Civil rights movement
Buildings and structures completed in 1954
African-American history of Alabama
Birmingham campaign