The central principle of the American Civil Rights Movement was non-violence, based on the strategies of Mahatma Gandhi, who led India's independence struggle against the British Empire. Being non-violent did not mean being passive. Using "direct . . . — — Map (db m83833) HM
In Tribute to
Pauline Bray Fletcher
1878 - 1970
The First Black Registered Nurse of Alabama
Through self-sacrifice, perseverance founded in 1926 Camp Pauline Bray Fletcher.
Renewing the faith and the good health of all black . . . — — Map (db m27393) HM
Rev. Shuttlesworth was not completely satisfied with the settlement Dr. King
worked out with Birmingham's White power structure to end “Project C”
while he lay injured at the hospital. Even so, Birmingham's African Americans
finally won their . . . — — Map (db m187593) HM
Rev. Shuttlesworth recruited Dr. King and the SCLC to build publicity for
the Birmingham Movement, King invited popular jazz singer Al Hibbler,
one of the first celebrities to take part in the “Project C" marches. King
hoped Hibbler's arrest . . . — — Map (db m187782) HM
Birmingham Blacks had no love for police, who often harassed and brutalized them rather than protect them from bombings and violence.
Some policemen were suspected Ku Klux Klan members or sympathizers.
Public Safety Commissioner Eugene “Bull” . . . — — Map (db m73032) HM
Built 1952, 1501 7th Ave. N.
Poole Funeral Chapel served as a “safe haven” for demonstrators during “Project C's” mass civil rights demonstrations in
April - May 1963. In 1957, its owners, brothers John and Ernest
Poole, came to the rescue . . . — — Map (db m187905) HM
Throughout May 1963, the pressure continued to build. The downtown business district was closed, a prominent black-owned motel was bombed, and 3,000 federal troops were dispatched to restore order before Birmingham was officially desegregated. This . . . — — Map (db m73021) HM
No one did more to bring about positive change in Birmingham than the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth. In his struggle for equal rights, he survived a series of assaults, including the bombing of his home and a brutal armed beating by the Ku Klux Klan. . . . — — Map (db m73025) HM
White businessmen failed to integrate their stores and remove "Colored”
signs from water fountains and dressing rooms as promised in 1962. As
a result, Miles College students led by Frank Dukes organized a boycott
against the stores. They . . . — — Map (db m187758) HM
Built 1924 (remodeled for offices in 1995), 413 16th St. N.
Judge Helen Shores Lee bought this one-story building, a
garage from the U.S. Post Office, in 1995 and turned into a law
center to honor her father, pioneer civil rights lawyer . . . — — Map (db m188192) HM
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church has been designated a National Historic Landmark. This property possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the United States. In 1963 it was the staging ground for the Birmingham Campaign Civil . . . — — Map (db m63733) HM
Built 1911, 1530 6th Ave. N.
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was designed by Wallace
Rayfield, a renowned Black architect. It was among
Birmingham's most prominent African-American churches.
By the time of the 1963 Birmingham Movement, it . . . — — Map (db m187523) HM
Built 1959, 1410 & 1414 6th Ave. N.
Sixth Avenue Zion Hill Baptist Church hosted strategy and mass meetings during the Birmingham Movement. It also served as the departure points for the April 12, 1963, Good Friday march to City Hall, led . . . — — Map (db m244958) HM
Built 1973, 708 15th St. N.
St. John AME Church and Day Care Center are on the site of
the former church that hosted Monday night mass meetings
during the early 1960s. It was also a center where “Project
C" leaders came to strategize about . . . — — Map (db m187892) HM
Built 1904; Renovations 1948-51, 1500 6th Ave. N.
St. Paul United Methodist Church was the site of the first
mass meeting held on Dec. 26, 1956, following the ACMHR's
(Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights) first
major direct action . . . — — Map (db m187868) HM
Built 1949, 1622 4th Ave. N.
This small, one-story, brick commercial taxi stand building was
constructed after the passage of a 1930 City of Birmingham
ordinance that required separate taxi services for Blacks
and Whites. Rev. George . . . — — Map (db m188185) HM
A key player in the Birmingham civil rights drama was Public Safety
Commissioner Theophilus Eugene Connor. He earned the nickname
"Bull” because of his booming voice as a radio sports announcer. White
voters who supported his politics of racial . . . — — Map (db m187780) HM
On May 2, 1963, more than 1,000 students skipped school and marched on downtown, gathering at the 16th Street Baptist Church. Bull Connor responded by jailing more than 600 children that day. So the next day, another 1,000 students filled the park . . . — — Map (db m73017) HM
After nearly a month, “Project C” seemed on the verge of collapse. The
presence of Dr. King and the SCLC did not rally Black Birmingham behind
the Movement as leaders hoped. The media began to lose interest and
the White community basically . . . — — Map (db m187840) HM
Rev. Bevel and his team worked with popular disc jockeys "Tall Paul”
Dudley White and Shelley “The Playboy" Stewart, whose jive talk on the
radio was actually a secret code that told young foot soldiers when it
was time to "move out.” Despite . . . — — Map (db m187770) HM
When notoriously racist police commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor sicced dogs on the "Foot Soldiers" of the movement, civil rights leaders hoped it would shine a national spotlight on their plight, but the country at large remained woefully ignorant. . . . — — Map (db m73398) HM
Built 1925, 1616-1622 4th Ave. N.
Located in the Historic Fourth Avenue Business District next to
the taxi stand and Colored Masonic Temple, this building
housed one of Birmingham's few hotels for Black travelers. It
also housed restaurants . . . — — Map (db m188186) HM
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., hoped to gain more national attention for the
Birmingham campaign by planning marches during Holy Week - on Palm
Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. But "Bull” Connor created serious problems for King. Connor got a . . . — — Map (db m187834) HM
By the end of April 1963, the national media and local Whites were
losing interest in “Project C.” Fewer Blacks volunteered to be arrested at
downtown stores and lunch counters. So, Rev. James Bevel, a field
Secretary with the SCLC, turned to a . . . — — Map (db m187765) HM
Ministers in 60 Black churches across the city played key roles in the
Birmingham Movement. In the mass meetings, ministers fired up their
working-class members and encouraged commitment to the struggle
against segregation with revival-style . . . — — Map (db m187529) HM
Built in the 1940S, 4th Ave. N. & 19th St. N.
On Mother's Day in 1961, the Freedom Riders, Black and White
members of the Congress for Racial Equality (CORE), arrived at
Birmingham's Trailways bus station. Though integrated . . . — — Map (db m187994) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m188003) HM
Bull Connor ordered the fearless "Child Crusaders" to be blasted with high-pressure fire hoses, and he once again loosed the dogs on the young demonstrators. When the media finally exposed the nation to the cruel scene, President John F. Kennedy . . . — — Map (db m73019) HM
For seven years before the 1963 Birmingham Campaign, Rev. Shuttlesworth
and other leaders of the ACMHR taught masses of Black citizens how
to take direct but non-violent actions to gain first-class American
citizenship. Inspired by faith, these . . . — — Map (db m187787) HM
April 1916
On April 10, 1916, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a
case from Louisville, Kentucky, where it was illegal
to sell homes to Blacks in areas where Whites lived.
The high court's 1917 decision in Buchanan v. Warley
said Louisville's . . . — — Map (db m189158) HM
This residential area was carved from the Joseph Riley Smith plantation, a 600 acre antebellum farm, one of the largest in 19th century Jefferson County. Smithfield lies to the west of Birmingham's city center on the flat land & hills north of . . . — — Map (db m26990) HM
Memorial Park is the site of the Miracle Sunday Prayer Vigil that occurred on May 5, 1963. to protest the incarceration of Civil Rights demonstrators held in the city jail. Citizens attending a mass meeting at New Pilgrim Baptist Church staged a . . . — — Map (db m295304) HM
Former members of Broad Street Baptist of Elyton organized South Elyton Baptist Church in November 1914, and named it for its location south of the AGS railroad, distinguishing the community from Old Elyton Architect and neighbor Wallace Rayfield . . . — — Map (db m295301) HM
In 1909, the township of Elyton built a school for African American children in Titusville on this site. Pioneer Black architect Wallace Rayfield, who lived nearby. selected the site. designed the building. and recommended the building contractor . . . — — Map (db m295298) HM
Pearl Harbor
May 31, 1941
Dear Friend,
I hope all is well with you. I am doing well but due to the present state of emergency the Pacific Fleet is held in a place known as Hawaiian Territory.
Would you do me a . . . — — Map (db m27409) HM
Built by local industrialist A. H. "Rick" Woodward, this park opened on August 18, 1910. It is the oldest surviving baseball park in America. Rickwood served as the home park for both the Birmingham Barons (until 1987) and the Birmingham Black . . . — — Map (db m22526) HM
On Aug. 18, 1915, Alabama
Equal Suffrage Association
and Birmingham Barons
hosted suffrage day here in
support of women's suffrage — — Map (db m188885) HM
1937
Starting in the 1920s, demand for all housing in
Birmingham increased year after year as the
population grew. Residential areas zoned for
"Negroes,” however, remained the same. By the
1940s, surging Black demand and a postwar . . . — — Map (db m189168) HM
1936
Slum clearance became another facial zoning
Weapon. City health officials described. "Negro
quarters” as the unsanitary source of diseases that
threatened community health: Civic leaders used this
reasoning to win millions in federal . . . — — Map (db m189164) HM
Wilson Chapel was built in 1916 as a memorial to James and Frances Wilson by their daughters, Rosa Wilson Eubanks and Minerva Wilson Constantine. At the time of its construction the area was developing into a community of country homes known as . . . — — Map (db m26681) HM
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘Letter From Birmingham Jail’
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter From Birmingham Jail" is the most important written document of the Civil Rights Era. His eloquent justification of the movement and . . . — — Map (db m173404) HM
Civil Rights Evangelism for Justice
Rev. Joseph W. Ellwanger, the dynamic pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church from 1958 to 1967, was a member of the Central Committee of Strategists for the Birmingham Civil Rights Campaign of 1963. On March . . . — — Map (db m295302) HM
Racial Terrorism and Convict Leasing. Thousands of black people were the victims of lynching and racial violence in the United States between 1877 and 1950 Lynching was
a form of racial terrorism that went beyond only hanging, . . . — — Map (db m173372) HM
This cemetery is the final resting place of three of the four young girls killed in the September 15, 1963 church bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carol Robertson are buried here. The fourth victim, . . . — — Map (db m61197) HM
Mt. Zion Baptist Church began burying here in the mid-1800s. On June 2, 1970, New Grace Hill Cemetery, Inc., a subsidiary of the Booker T. Washington Insurance Company in Birmingham, purchased this cemetery and officially named it Zion Memorial . . . — — Map (db m35602) HM
Lynching In America.
Thousands of black people were the victims of lynching and racial violence in the United States between 1877 and 1950. The lynching of African Americans during this era was a form of racial terrorism intended to intimidate . . . — — Map (db m101159) HM
Miles College Leaders. Students Active During Civil Rights Era
The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church founded Miles College in
Fairfield in 1898. During the 1960s, President Lucius Pitts
encouraged students, faculty and staff to become . . . — — Map (db m153232) HM
Racial Terrorism and Criminal Justice. Racial terror lynching between 1865 and 1950 claimed the lives of thousands of African Americans and created a legacy of injustice that can still be felt today. After emancipation, white Southerners . . . — — Map (db m167223) HM
The story of “steel drivin’ man” John Henry is one of America’s most enduring legends. The strong ex-slave became a folk hero during construction of the Columbus & Western Railroad between Goodwater and Birmingham. He drilled holes for . . . — — Map (db m22207) HM
In 1928, the county constructed a two-room schoolhouse with Ms. Ruby C.
Todd, a Jeanes Supervisor of Negro Schools, serving as teacher. The school
provided a 7th through 12th grade education for Black students. In 1935,
the school added five new . . . — — Map (db m302617) HM
African Americans, through enslavement and Jim Crow, constructed campus buildings and worked at the University of North Alabama since its beginnings in 1830, yet they were denied admission as students for 133 years. In 1963, Wendell Wilkie Gunn . . . — — Map (db m156930) HM
Rev. Dr. Bennett W. Smith, as president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, expanded the organization internationally. Active in Civil Rights in America and South Africa, he counseled President Bill Clinton on racial equality. — — Map (db m219184) HM
William Christopher Handy, acclaimed worldwide as the “Father of the Blues” was born November 16, 1873, in his grandfather’s two~room log cabin which was located at this site. All structures in this area were removed in 1954 to make way . . . — — Map (db m141964) HM
This school named Burrell Academy, formerly in Selma, Alabama, was given to Florence by the American Missionary Association. In 1903, Burrell Normal School opened and served African ~American students in grades 1-12. In 1937, the Florence City Board . . . — — Map (db m83940) HM
John A. Murrell, known as the "Great Western Land Pirate," was captured near this site in the winter of 1834. He was said to have killed over 400 people, including many kidnapped slaves. His arrest was brought about through the clever maneuvering of . . . — — Map (db m154394) HM
About 1849, African-Americans began holding religious services in a brick cow shed overlooking the town spring near the site. It was purchased in 1857 by the local Methodists for this congregation, with Robin Lightfoot, a slave as its pastor. In . . . — — Map (db m45812) HM
About 1840, African- Americans began holding religious services in a brick cow shed overlooking the town spring near this site. It was purchased in 1857 by the local Methodists for this congregation, with Robin Lightfoot, a slave, as its pastor. In . . . — — Map (db m156921) HM
This boulevard was named in honor of Dr. Leonard Jerry Hicks by the City of Florence in 1981. Dr. Hicks was a prominent Black leader of the community and was recognized for his skills as a physician across the State of Alabama. He was born September . . . — — Map (db m35257) HM
Dred Scott, whose name is associated with the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Dred Scott Decision of 1857, was born in Virginia between 1795-1809. In 1818 he was in Madison County, Alabama. He came to Florence with the Peter Blow family in 1820. About . . . — — Map (db m35183) HM
Dred Scott, a slave who served as the hostler in Peter Blow's Florence Hotel, waged a 14-year legal fight for freedom that resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court's Dred Scott Decision of 1857, a pivotal event in American history. — — Map (db m219324) HM
The "Mother Church" of the Presbytery, Florence Cumberland Colored Presbyterian Church originated in 1898 on property deeded by the city. Led, in 1918, by Rev. Holt Smith, it bought property on Alabama Street and built a frame structure. In 1948 . . . — — Map (db m83967) HM
The Forks of Cypress plantation was established in 1818 by James and Sarah Jackson. This home, believed the design of William Nichols, was one of Alabama's great houses, featuring perhaps the earliest peristyle colonnades in America. Built by . . . — — Map (db m156982) HM
To the south of this marker is the Hickory Hill Plantation Slave Cemetery which contains the remains of approximately 140 African-Americans. These individuals labored in the bonds of slavery during the period 1818 to 1865 and many as tenant . . . — — Map (db m138778) HM
Lawyer and statesman James T. Rapier, a son of free African-American parents in Florence, holds the distinction of being just the second African-American from Alabama to be elected, in 1873, to the U.S. Congress. — — Map (db m219173) HM
For 21 years following the end of World War II, John Bulls served as Agricultural Extension Advisor for the U.S. State Dept. in India, Nigeria, Tunisia and Uganda, assisting farmers and organizing community development programs. — — Map (db m219298) HM
In 1928, Oscar S. DePriest, son of former slaves, became the first 20th Century African-American Congressman from the north. He is credited with the Anti-discrimination Amendment to the 1933 Civilian Conservation Corps Bill. — — Map (db m219190) HM
First school in Florence Public school system built 1890 on land given by Governor Robert M. Patton. It was occupied in 1891. Designed originally to serve all white elementary school children of Florence. Usually served six grades divided into nine . . . — — Map (db m84042) HM
In early 1840s about 14 African-American members from First Methodist formed own congregation “Church Springs” near South Court Street. In 1857, a nearby brick cow shed was converted for its use under Rev. Robin Lightfoot who became a . . . — — Map (db m84050) HM
The congregation first met in home of Mrs. Betsy Key. Organized as "Fairgrounds Church" in 1896 at nearby site of early Florence Racetrack and Fairgrounds, with Andy Sloss as pastor. Later, the church was moved to Irvine Avenue (formerly Fish-Trap . . . — — Map (db m156929) HM
Dedicated to the world-renowned musicians, recording executives, writers, producers, and performers who made Florence and the Muscle Shoals area the “Hit Recording Capital of the World” in the 1960s and 1970s, and to those that continue that . . . — — Map (db m268605) HM
William Christopher Handy, widely honored as the “Father of the Blues,” was born in this house on November 16, 1873. In his autobiography, Handy traced the key events in his discovery of the blues back to his time in the Mississippi Delta, . . . — — Map (db m90306) HM
This Twentieth century business and residential area was developed by John D. Weeden Jr. during the building of Wilson Dam and the World War I Defense Plants. Weeden Heights was carved from 3,800-acre Sweetwater Plantation, the former home of his . . . — — Map (db m35632) HM
(side 1)
William Christopher Handy was born on November 16, 1873, in this two-room log cabin, which was located approximately one-half mile north of this site. In 1954, the cabin was dismantled, placed in storage, and restored to its . . . — — Map (db m90292) HM
Born in Florence in 1873, W.C. Handy wrote some of the country's most recognizable blues music such as the "St. Louis Blues." He became internationally known as the "Father of the Blues." — — Map (db m219308) HM
Wilson Family Cemetery. In 1818 three Wilson brothers John, Matthew and Samuel, came from Virginia to purchase large farms in this area. The plantations of John and Matthew joined near this cemetery. All three brothers and their families are . . . — — Map (db m28160) HM
As Director of the United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa, 1996-2004, Dr. Mokwunye capped a career of service to farmers and others in his native Nigeria and in many other African nations. — — Map (db m273872) HM
West End High School
1957-1969
West End High School was located here in the Oakland Community, less than a half-mile east of this location.
It was the first high school for African-Americans in western Lauderdale County, and the second . . . — — Map (db m232313) HM
Camp Drake Boy Scout Camp. Camp Drake was located within the current Joe Wheeler State Park Day Use Area. Camp Drake Reservation hosted Black Boy Scouts of the Tennessee Valley Council (TV) for annual summer camps and other events. A . . . — — Map (db m288540) HM
East End High School was the first school for African-American students in eastern Lauderdale County. Several elementary schools for Africian-American children were established in the area, including the Rogersville School located on the north . . . — — Map (db m215931) HM
Liberty Church. At this location, just west of present-day downtown Rogersville, was the area's first place set aside for Christian worship, circa 1818. Ideally situated alongside the major east-west thoroughfare, this was the closest . . . — — Map (db m266763) HM
African-Americans played a very significant role in the early history of Courtland. Most came as slaves from the older southern states to help clear the land, to plant crops of cotton and corn, and to serve as household domestics. President . . . — — Map (db m278604) HM
Side A Federal lands in this area were first sold in 1818 and quickly purchased by settlers and speculators. A group of investors calling themselves the “Courtland Land Company” and consisting of William H. Whitaker, James M. . . . — — Map (db m28989) HM
On January 3, 1874, former slaves and
Deacons King Crayton, George Pruitt,
Tandy Crayton, and Ben Warren paid fifty
dollars for land to construct the Colored
Baptist Church, which was one of the earliest
in the Muscle Shoals Colored . . . — — Map (db m201349) HM
Near this site in the 1920's a school was constructed with funds and labor from the African~American Community along with funds from the Public, Whites and the Rosenwald Foundation. In the 1950's new buildings replaced the wooden structures. Most of . . . — — Map (db m195203) HM
On this site in 1871 former slaves constructed one of the first churches and schools for African Americans in Moulton. The Colored Methodist purchased most of the materials used for the building. Mr. and Mrs Isaac Nabors Owen gave land for the . . . — — Map (db m195205) HM
The Hot Spot
c. 1945
has been listed in the
Alabama Register of
Landmarks and Heritage
by the Alabama
Historical Commission
June 27, 2019 — — Map (db m195208) HM
Ca. 1875-1947. Faith healer. Fortune teller and finder of lost things. His yard filled every Sunday with seekers from near and far. Buried here. — — Map (db m239806) HM
The African American community of Courtland, led by Principal Richard A. Hubbard, bought this land to establish a public school for its students in a segregated South. Prior to this, Black students gathered in various locations as part of the . . . — — Map (db m302013) HM
Local farmer Frank Davis and his wife, Annie Lee, offered their house as a classroom space for African American students after a devastating fire destroyed the North Alabama Baptist Academy building in 1928. Located in a part of town once known as . . . — — Map (db m277899) HM
Born near this site 12 September 1913 to Henry Cleveland and Emma (Fitzgerald) Owens, who were sharecroppers and the offspring of freed slaves, Jesse was destined to attain immortality in the 1936 Olympic Games at Berlin, Germany. Although he moved . . . — — Map (db m80969) HM
Jesse Owens track career started in high school when one day in gym class, the students were timed in the 60-yard dash. Coach Charlie Riley saw the raw, yet natural talent that young Jesse had and immediately invited him to run for the track team. . . . — — Map (db m80943) HM
He inspired a world enslaved in tyranny
and brought hope to his fellow man...
from the cottonfields of Oakville to the
acclaim of the entire world. He made us
all proud to be called Lawrence Countians.
Dedicated October, 1983 . . . — — Map (db m180484) HM
Built on this site in 1921, the store was a vital enterprise and local gathering place for African American residents of Town Creek and the surrounding rural communities. The Rev. O. C. Stanley owned and operated the business for more than six . . . — — Map (db m192089) HM
(side 1)
This small dwelling is the last reminder of "Boxwood" plantation, the home of the Elliot family, and later of the Nevilles. Built-in 1854 of slave-made brick and occupied by the household servants it is one of the few brick . . . — — Map (db m114719) HM
Youngtown was earlier known as Egypt. The community's name changed after 1915 to recognize the Young family. By 1857, Reason Young owned land and slaves in this area. Newspapers in 1891 speak of Joseph Young and in 1915 of Arthur Young living "in . . . — — Map (db m274336) HM
(Side 1)
Auburn's first separate black community cemetery offers a rich source of the city’s black heritage. Much of the history is oral but it is known that a white man gave most of the land in the early 1870’s. The four acre cemetery . . . — — Map (db m74453) HM
The first African American student entered the library to register at Auburn University at this site. Acting on a court order, Auburn president Ralph Brown Draughon accepted the application of Harold Franklin as the first African American student in . . . — — Map (db m90861) HM
(Side 1)
This simple frame structure was built by newly freed black men and women before 1870. The property on which the building stands was given to a member of the Ebenezer congregation in 1865, the year the War Between the States . . . — — Map (db m74450) HM
J. F. Drake High School
J.F. Drake High School, formerly Lee County Training School, educated Black children of the community from 1958 to 1970. It bears the name of Dr. Joseph Fanning Drake. Drake consisted of 12 classrooms, gymnasium, . . . — — Map (db m74457) HM
Marker Front:
The Greek Revival rock and mortar house was built by Addison Frazer (1809-1873) between 1852 and 1854 and served as the center for a 2,000 acre cotton plantation. Frazer owned 100 slaves and was on the Board of Trustees of . . . — — Map (db m25988) HM
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