Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument

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Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument
A.G. Gaston Motel, Birmingham, Alabama LCCN2010636968.jpg
The A.G. Gaston Motel is included in the monument.
Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument
Interactive map of Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument
Location Birmingham, Alabama, United States
Area18.25 acres (7.39 ha)
Website Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument
Part of Birmingham Civil Rights District (ID06000940)
Designated NMONJanuary 12, 2017 [1]

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 1963 Birmingham campaign, its Children's Crusade, and other Civil Rights Movement events and actions. Civil rights protesters took to the streets of Birmingham, Alabama to fight in favor of Project C, a campaign against laws limiting African Americans freedoms. They were met with violent resistance from the police. The monument spans an approximately five-block area of 18.25 acres (7.39 ha) in the Birmingham Civil Rights District near Downtown Birmingham. It is administered by the National Park Service. [2]

Contents

History

Birmingham was the site of the 1963 Birmingham campaign; Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham Jail; the Children's Crusade, with its images of students being attacked by water hoses and dogs; the bombing of the A.G. Gaston Motel – the movement's headquarters motel – and the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.

President Barack Obama signed a proclamation on January 12, 2017, which designated half of the 36-acre (15 ha) Birmingham Civil Rights District as a U.S. National Monument. The purpose of this proclamation was to protect the history that came from the Reconstruction, tell stories, and illustrate how the Era redefined freedom. Other proclamations signed the same day established the Freedom Riders National Monument in Anniston [3] [4] and the Reconstruction Era National Monument in Beaufort County, South Carolina. [5]

Scope

The national monument is within the larger Birmingham Civil Rights District, which was designated in 1992 by the City of Birmingham. The National Park Service only has ownership in the A.G. Gaston Motel (0.88 acres (0.36 ha)), which now hosts the visitor center. Additional historic sites within the monument boundaries that partner with the NPS include the 16th Street Baptist Church, Kelly Ingram Park, St. Paul United Methodist Church, the Masonic Temple Building, and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. The historic Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham's Collegeville neighborhood also partners with the monument but it outside the boundary. [6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Proclamation 9565: Establishment of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument  . January 12, 2017 – via Wikisource.
  2. ↑ Pres. Obama signs executive order establishing Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument Archived 2017-10-07 at the Wayback Machine . WBRC, 11 January 2017
  3. ↑ Edgemon, Erin (January 12, 2017). "President Obama signs proclamation creating Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument". The Birmingham News. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  4. ↑ Obama, Barack (January 12, 2017). "Presidential Proclamations -- Establishment of the Freedom Riders National Monument". The White House, Office of the Press Secretary. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  5. ↑ "FACT SHEET: President Obama Designates National Monuments Honoring Civil Rights History". whitehouse.gov . January 12, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017– via National Archives.
  6. ↑ "President Obama signs proclamation creating Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument". al. January 13, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
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