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 covers a six-block area. Landmarks in the district include: *

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 ...

, where the students involved in the 1963 Birmingham campaign and its Children's Crusade were trained by SCLC activist James Bevel and left in groups of 50 to march on City Hall, and where four young African American girls were killed and 22 churchgoers were injured in a bombing on September 15, 1963. *

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 ...

, where many protests by blacks were held, often resulting in recrimination by Birmingham police, including the famous 1963 scenes of policemen turning back young protesters with fire hoses and police dogs. News coverage of the police attack in this park helped turn the tide of public opinion in the United States against legalized segregationist policies. Several sculptures in the park depict scenes from those police riots. * The Fourth Avenue Business District, where much of the city's black businesses and entertainment venues were located; the area was the hub of the black community for many years. The business district includes

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 ...

's Booker T. Washington Insurance Co. and the Gaston Motel, a meeting place for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and

Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) was an American civil rights organization in Birmingham, Alabama, which coordinated boycotts and sponsored federal lawsuits aimed at dismantling segregation in Birmingham and Alabama during the ...

during the early 1960s. * Carver Theatre, once a popular

motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

theater for blacks in Birmingham, now renovated as a live-performance theater and home of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. *

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is a large interpretive museum and research center in Birmingham, Alabama that depicts the struggles of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. The Institute is located in the Civil Rights District, whic ...

, a museum which chronicles the events, actions, and victories of the Civil Rights Movement, opened in 1993. On March 21, 2016, Rep. Terri Sewell introduced to the United States House of Representatives H.R. 4817, a bill that would designate the Birmingham Civil Rights District as a National Historical 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 on January 12, 2017.Pres. Obama signs executive order establishing Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument
. WBRC, 11 January 2017

References

External links

ProseandPhotos.com: Birmingham Civil Rights District
{{Civil rights movement National Register of Historic Places in Birmingham, Alabama History of civil rights in the United States Geography of Birmingham, Alabama History of Birmingham, Alabama Tourist attractions in Birmingham, Alabama Historic districts in Birmingham, Alabama Civil rights movement museums

See also

References

External links