Children of Dynamite Hill

Children of Dynamite Hill. March Route for Fair Housing. 1961 , Black middle-class families who moved to North Smithfield included the Davises, the Coars, the Monks, the Browns, the Coles, the Adamses, the Wesleys, the Gaillards, the Powells, the Halls, the Nalls, the Browns, the Nixons, the Hendrickses, the Armstrongs, and, of course, the Shores. Most of the families were married working couples. Professionally, they were doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, educators, college administrators, and professional ball players. First Congregational Church and Lady Queen of the Universe Catholic Church were built to serve the spiritual needs of African Americans in the area who faced racial attacks. , "When one commits oneself to the struggle it must be for a lifetime." , Angela Davis , Birmingham native and civil rights activist., Despite the blasts, the children of Dynamite Hill prospered. Some who witnessed the terror there helped shape the American justice system as adults. Angela Davis' experiences in Birmingham lead her to a more militant wing of African American activists in the '70s. She gained national notoriety when the FBI placed her on its “Most Wanted List” of top ten fugitives. She was eventually cleared of crimes. She became a college professor and spent her remaining years as a civil rights activist for victims of injustice in prison systems. Other Dynamite Hill children went on to become lawyers and judges: Bill, a son of the Adamses (Oscar Adams was himself a judge); Peter, son of the Halls; David, a son of the Coars; Guy, a son of the Coles; Houston, a son of the Browns; and Helen, one of Attorney Shores' two daughters., Lesson H17: How do you think your life would be different if you had grown up on Dynamite Hill?