Birmingham in Jefferson County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
Vance Federal Building
(Included the Post Office)
— Birmingham Civil Rights Heritage Trail —
Photographed By Mark Hilton, December 5, 2021
1. Vance Federal Building Marker (C28)
C28 Side
Built 1921, 1800 5th Ave. N.
Lawyers like Arthur Shores and Thurgood Marshall (shown with Autherine Lucy, the first Black student to integrate the University of Alabama) filed numerous lawsuits challenging racial discrimination and segregation policies in the city and state here at Birmingham's original federal courthouse. In the 1950s and 1960s, federal judges affirmed the constitutional rights of African Americans and dismantled racially-biased Jim Crow laws. Judges outlawed segregated buses and ruled that mass street demonstrations were protected as freedom of speech and assembly activities, most notably in Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham (1969). The building was named after federal Judge Robert S. Vance, who as a lawyer organized the one-man-one-vote lawsuit that went to the Supreme Court in 1963, before Congress approved the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
C27 Side
"The boycott has been a 'beautiful' way to register protest."
Dr. Lucius H. Pitts
Miles College President, during the student-led Selective Buying Campaign in 1962.
Lesson C27: Why do you think the college students and their supporters told storeowners about their plan to boycott ahead of time?
Erected by the Birmingham
this page online
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights. In addition, it is included in the Birmingham Civil Rights Heritage Trail series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1921.
Location. 33° 31.051′ N, 86° 48.587′ W. Marker is in Birmingham, Alabama, in Jefferson County. Marker is at the intersection of 19th Street North and 5th Avenue North, on the left when traveling north on 19th Street North. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Birmingham AL 35203, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Courthouse Prayer (here, next to this marker); The Bad Guy (within shouting distance of this marker); Picketing for a Point (within shouting distance of this marker); Little Boy Blue (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); The Historic Federal Reserve Building (about 400 feet away); Marchers on the Run (about 400 feet away); Trailways Bus Station (about 400 feet away); Civil Rights Freedom Riders (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Birmingham.
More about this marker. This is an unusual marker on this trail, in that the front side is marker C28 and the reverse side is marker C27 instead of each being separate markers.
Part
Photographed By Mark Hilton, December 5, 2021
2. Vance Federal Building Marker (C27)
Regarding Vance Federal Building. The Civil Rights Activist Committee “Home of the Foot Soldiers“ is the Information Center for the Birmingham Civil Rights Heritage Trail.
Photographed By Mark Hilton, December 5, 2021
3. Vance Federal Building Marker (C28 side)
Photographed By Mark Hilton, December 5, 2021
4. Vance Federal Building & the marker (to right of right-side tree).
Credits. This page was last revised on January 8, 2022. It was originally submitted on December 10, 2021, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 167 times since then and 26 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on December 10, 2021, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
