Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is a large interpretive museum and research center in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

that depicts the struggles of the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

in the 1950s and 1960s. The Institute is located in the Civil Rights District, which includes the historic

16th Street Baptist Church The 16th Street Baptist Church is a Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. In 1963, the church was bombed by Ku Klux Klan members. The bombing killed four young girls in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. The church is stil ...

Kelly Ingram Park Kelly Ingram Park, formerly West Park, is a park located in Birmingham, Alabama. It is bounded by 16th and 17th Streets and 5th and 6th Avenues North in the Birmingham Civil Rights District. The park, just outside the doors of the 16th Street Ba ...

, Fourth Avenue Business District, and the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame located in the Carver Theatre. The Institute opened in November 1992, and had more than 25,000 visitors during its first week.

Exhibits

The Institute showcases a walking journey through the "living institution", which displays the lessons of the past as a positive way to chart new directions for the future. The permanent exhibitions are a self-directed journey through Birmingham's contributions to the Civil Rights Movement and human rights struggles. Multimedia exhibitions focus on the history of African-American life and the struggle for civil rights. The Oral History Project, one of the museum's multimedia exhibits, documents Birmingham's role in the Civil Rights Movement through the voices of movement participants. The museum is an affiliate in the

Smithsonian Affiliations Smithsonian Affiliations is a division of the Smithsonian Institution that establishes long-term partnerships with non-Smithsonian museums and educational and cultural organizations in order to share collections, exhibitions and educational stra ...

program. Through this program the museum can acquire long-term loans and is currently hosting the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service exhibition "Let Your Motto Be resistance."

Legislation

On May 24, 2013, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

signed into law H.R. 360 from the

113th United States Congress The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Presidency of Barack Obama, Barack Obama's presiden ...

, a bill which awarded the

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...

to Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley to commemorate the lives they lost 50 years ago in the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church. The gold medal was given to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute to display or loan out to other museums. On March 21, 2016, Rep. Terri Sewell introduced to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

H.R. 4817, a bill that would designate the

Birmingham Civil Rights District The Birmingham Civil Rights District is an area of downtown Birmingham, Alabama where several significant events in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s took place. The district was designated by the City of Birmingham in 1992 and cove ...

, including the Civil Rights Institute, as a National Park. On March 28, 2016, the bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands. However, a portion of the district was designated by executive order by President Obama as the

Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument The Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument is a United States National Monument in Birmingham, Alabama established in 2017 to preserve and commemorate the work of the Civil Rights Movement. The monument is administered by the National Park Serv ...

on January 12, 2017.Pres. Obama signs executive order establishing Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument
.

WBRC WBRC (channel 6) is a television station in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power, Class A Telemundo affiliate WTBM-CD (channel 24). The two stations studios ato ...

, 11 January 2017

Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award

Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American political activist, philosopher, academic, scholar, and author. She is a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A feminist and a Marxist, Davis was a longtime member of ...

was originally to receive the 2018 award but it was soon rescinded and no alternate recipient was chosen to replace her. The Birmingham Institute stated, "after closer examination of Ms. Davis’ statements and public record, we concluded that she unfortunately does not meet all of the criteria on which the award is based," based on her support of the boycotting of Israeli institutions in support of

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. On 25 January, the BCRI reversed their decision to rescind the Shuttleworth Award to Davis, stating that there should have been more consultation.

References

External links

* {{coord, 33.516, N, 86.815, W, display=title Civil rights movement History museums in Alabama Institutions accredited by the American Alliance of Museums Museums in Birmingham, Alabama History of Birmingham, Alabama Landmarks in Alabama African-American museums in Alabama Smithsonian Institution affiliates Civil rights movement museums

Exhibits

Legislation

Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award

See also

References

External links