Rev. Shuttlesworth and his fellow ministers agreed to call the
replacement organization the Alabama Christian Movement for Human
Rights (ACMHR) so that its reach was both statewide and its aims wider
than the African American community. Adding . . . — — Map (db m188971) HM
The ACMHR used nonviolent direct action as its preferred method of
attacking racial segregation. This was a clear break from the tactics and
strategies of the traditional black middle-class leadership that focused
on petitions and lawsuits. Under . . . — — Map (db m188978) HM
Rev. Shuttlesworth returned frequently to Birmingham to lead the
ACMHR in a strategic alliance with the SCLC to bring national attention to
Birmingham and the need to end racial discrimination in America.
ACMHR staff worked with the SCLC's . . . — — Map (db m189139) HM
Because of his fearlessness, college student activists who staged
sit-ins and integrated bus rides in the 1960s knew they could depend
on support from Rey. Shuttlesworth and the ACMHR. He supported
Miles College student leader Frank Dukes and his . . . — — Map (db m189134) HM
Alabama's chapters of the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP) were particularly effective in filing federal
lawsuits that challenged racial segregation laws and advocating for
voting rights. NAACP members also . . . — — Map (db m188970) HM
In January 1957, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., called ministers of the
church-led movements in Southern cities, including Montgomery and
Birmingham, to a meeting in Atlanta to form a national organization to
help them all. Civil rights activist . . . — — Map (db m189109) HM
Birmingham's rise to national prominence in the modern American
Civil Rights Movement began several years after Rev. Fred L.
Shuttlesworth arrived in March 1953 to pastor Bethel Baptist Church,
founded in 1904. The church's prior pastors were . . . — — Map (db m188962) HM
A key reason for Rev. Shuttlesworth's success was that he led the ACMHR
by example. He was the first to put himself, even his family, in harm's
way for the sake of the Movement. He did not ask ACMHR members to
do anything he was not willing to do . . . — — Map (db m189112) HM
Another goal of the ACMHR was school desegregation. ACMHR members
like barber James Armstrong filed lawsuits to put their children in
better-funded all-White schools after the U.S. Supreme Court's
landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of . . . — — Map (db m189114) HM
1962
Segregation was still a way of life despite the ACMHR's heroic and
dangerous direct action campaigns and its multiple lawsuits.
Rev. Shuttlesworth knew he needed to put more pressure on the
city. He and other ACMHR leaders spent . . . — — Map (db m189137) HM
Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth's tenure as pastor of Bethel Baptist Church (1953-1961) was marked by demonstrations, bombings and passionate sermons critical of segregation laws. His activism earned him a house bombing, frequent beatings, arrests, and . . . — — Map (db m83836) HM
In November 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed segregated buses
in Montgomery, handing the bus boycott and the growing Civil Rights
Movement a major victory. As a result, Rev. Shuttlesworth led the
ACMHR to target Birmingham's segregated . . . — — Map (db m189098) HM
The Christmas night bombing by White terrorists was intended to kill
Rev. Shuttlesworth, or at the very least, to scare him into leaving town
and his new organization. A police officer who came to the bornbed
house and church told Rev. . . . — — Map (db m189105) HM
In late 1958 and the summer of 1959, a series of articles in Time
magazine and the New York Times addressed the dangers Black
church leaders and others involved in the Movement faced as angry
pro-segregation Whites took more and more violent . . . — — Map (db m189131) HM
June 1958
Rev. Shuttlesworth called 1958 “a year of harassment” as terrorist
violence against the ACMHR's movement grew worse. Bethel
Baptist Deacon James Revis offered his home near the new
parsonage as a guardhouse. Other men from the . . . — — Map (db m189119) HM
The "sudden" emergence of the ACMHR ministers left White leaders
"dumbfounded” and deeply concerned about how they could be
controlled. At first, they called Rev. Shuttlesworth and his fellow
ministers “radicals” and “Communists," "outsiders” who . . . — — Map (db m189084) HM
The original log structure was built c. 1820 - 1830, with the board and batten addition dating to as late as the 1860s. The log cabin was at first one and one-half stories and is believed to be the oldest structure in Shades Valley. Members of the . . . — — Map (db m26697) HM
Although Rev. Shuttlesworth resigned from his positions within
the ACMHR and the SCLC in 1969, his dedication to the cause of
equality for African Americans continued for decades after the
height of the American Civil Rights Movement. A split . . . — — Map (db m187576) HM
"Project C” and the bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church were
powerful motivators to end racial discrimination in America, but they
were not enough a year later. Even after the assassination of President
Kennedy on November 22, 1963, . . . — — Map (db m187591) HM
One of the last major battles in the struggle for African American civil
rights came in Selma, Alabama. Despite the new Civil Rights Act of
1964, African Americans still faced difficulty voting. Although they
had the right to vote under the . . . — — Map (db m187587) HM
Birmingham's new leaders were much kinder to Rev. Shuttlesworth than their
predecessors. In 1978, officials renamed one of the city's main roads in his
honor. The city's first African-American mayor, Richard Arrington, Jr.,
requested his return . . . — — Map (db m187573) HM
In 1961, Rev. Shuttlesworth finally gave in to his wife Ruby's wishes to leave
Birmingham to become pastor of Revelation Baptist Church in Cincinnati.
But he returned to Birmingham often to organize the Monday night mass
meetings and lead the . . . — — Map (db m187597) HM
Marker Front:
Founded in 1886 on 600 acres of land, East Birmingham was the agricultural area consisting primarily of dairy farms extending to the present Birmingham airport. The East Birmingham Land Company that developed the area was . . . — — Map (db m83827) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m189181) HM
September 1963
The increasing number of new African American
families moving onto Dynamite Hill required the
building of a new school. The city's segregation
laws prevented their children from attending
all-White Graymont Elementary, even . . . — — Map (db m189184) HM
1960
This Center Street Historic District was carved from the
plantation of Joseph Riley Smith, who subdivided 600
acres that became Smithfield in 1886. In 1898, the
Smithfield community was home to many Whites,
including Italian and . . . — — Map (db m189177) HM
1946
This two-story Queen-Anne-style house at the
corner of Center Street and 11th Court North was built
around 1900 for the Hayes family. White neighbors
objected when they learned the Hayes family sold
their house to a Black couple, . . . — — Map (db m189180) HM
"Tuxedo Junction" was the street car crossing on the Ensley-Fairfield line at this corner in the Tuxedo Park residential area. It also refers to the fraternal dance hall operated in the 1920's and 1930s on the second floor of the adjacent building, . . . — — Map (db m25623) HM
The arrival of two railroad lines in Jones Valley opened nearby deposits of iron ore, limestone, and coal to commercial development and helped make Birmingham one of the great industrial cities of the post Civil War South.
In 1871, the year of . . . — — Map (db m69018) HM
Red Mountain, where you are standing, and Jones Valley, which stretches before you, were sites of human activity long before Birmingham's founding in 1871.
Native American presence
Recorded history and archaeological evidence indicate the . . . — — Map (db m83805) HM
The availability of seemingly limitless mineral resources was the key to the success of the Birmingham District, an area defined by geologic deposits that span five counties (Jefferson, Shelby, Tuscaloosa, Walker and Bibb). Some of the minerals . . . — — Map (db m69026) HM
In 1884, when Birmingham was
scarcely a decade old, the L&N
Railroad laid the first tracks for
its mineral railroad, to begin
hauling ore from Red Mountain
mines to furnaces, mills, and
rail connections in Jones Valley.
By the early 1900s, . . . — — Map (db m189284) HM
The concrete marker below
made with blast furnace slag
instead of rocks is located a
few feet from its original
position where it designated the
beginning and angle of the
curve in the train tracks. — — Map (db m188883) HM
Side 1 - Building the Park
In the mid-1930’s, civic leaders worked to move Vulcan to a place of honor on Red Mountain. The park was built through the combined efforts of several groups: the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham, the Birmingham Parks . . . — — Map (db m83807) HM
Vulcan Park isn’t just Vulcan’s home; it’s also a public park. The original project, funded by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) aimed for “general beautification of the entire acreage” to create” an ideal spot for untold scenic beauty.” The . . . — — Map (db m69015) HM
This neighborhood developed in the 1880s as one of Birmingham's first streetcar suburbs. It was the Town of Highlands from 1887 to 1893, when it became part of the City of Birmingham. The heart of the neighborhood was Five Points Circle, a major . . . — — Map (db m83829) HM
Heavy industry, the reason for Birmingham’s founding, is still an economic force here today. Foundries and pipe plants dot the landscape, the railroad runs through the city’s center, and steam rises periodically in the distance from the quenching of . . . — — Map (db m69019) HM
The origins of this park date to 1923, when the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham
spearheaded the drive to successfully create a comprehensive park system
for the Magic City. In 1925, the Olmsted Brothers landscape firm revealed
A Park System for . . . — — Map (db m189282) HM
The railroad trestle support wall across the road is a remnant of L&N's 156-mile Mineral Railroad, the backbone of the local iron industry. This segment ran along the north edge of Vulcan Park on its route around the Birmingham District, linking . . . — — Map (db m83831) HM
The Kiwanis Vulcan Trail follows the bed of
the old Birmingham Mineral Railroad, where
trains hauled iron ore from Red Mountain
mines to furnaces and foundries in
Birmingham. Some remnants of those
mines still remain today. The opening to
Lone . . . — — Map (db m189283) HM
The Big Seam
The red iron ore labeled "The Big Seam" in the
diagram below appears as an outcrop over this
sign. It extends all the way to Gadsden, 60
miles to the northeast. To the south, it runs as
far as Hoover, where it is a mile . . . — — Map (db m188879) HM
Front of Marker:
Opened as Alabama Medical College in 1859 in Mobile by Josiah C. Nott and other physicians as part of the University of Alabama. Closed by the Civil War in 1861 it reopened in 1868. Reorganized in 1897, it became the . . . — — Map (db m83838) HM
At the turn of the last century, Birmingham residents seeking home ownership and escape from the smoke, congestion, and unhealthy living conditions of an industrial city, began moving south. New streetcar lines encouraged the move “over the . . . — — Map (db m83840) HM
Congregation Beth-El was founded in 1907 on Birmingham's north side. Its leadership came from Knesseth Israel, the city's Orthodox Jewish congregation. Beth-El was established as a modern. yet traditional congregation. Construction on the synagogue . . . — — Map (db m216067) HM
One popular element of the park’s original design was a water feature known as the cascade. Cascading fountains were important features in formal European gardens. Their terraced pools and waterfalls animated the landscape with the sounds and . . . — — Map (db m83857) HM
The giant, cast iron statue you see towering above you is Vulcan, the Roman god of metalwork and the forge. The 56-foot tall statue was commissioned by Birmingham leaders to represent their new, growing city at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. After . . . — — Map (db m26297) HM
You are standing in front of the entrance to Lone Pine Mine Number 3. This mine is one of over one hundred ore mines on Red Mountain that were active between 1860 and 1960.
In the early twentieth century, iron ore was extracted from this . . . — — Map (db m83859) HM
The New Pilgrim Baptist Church
Civil Rights Gathering Place.
This church served as a gathering place and strategic hub for Birmingham's Civil Rights Movement in 1956 under the leadership of Rev. Nelson H. Smith, Jr., . . . — — Map (db m188891) HM
The WPA (Works Progress Administration) funded the design and construction of Vulcan Park in the late 1930s. This was done in conjunction with the Alabama Highway Department’s improvement of U.S. Highway 31, the major north/south route that runs . . . — — Map (db m69022) HM
When it was first proposed in 1905 that Vulcan be placed on Red Mountain, the time was not right for such a move. But by 1935 when the idea for Vulcan Park was proposed, iron ore mining had ceased here, the mineral railroad had been abandoned and . . . — — Map (db m95335) HM
Dedicated to the sacred memory
of the Avondale Boys of
World War II who made the Supreme
Sacrifice for Liberty and Humanity.
Thomas Nelson •
Albert W. Moore •
James A. Williams •
John L. Warner •
Wayne Daily •
Chester Smith • . . . — — Map (db m55950) WM
A residential district extending from the crest of Red Mountain to the floor of Jones Valley with roads built along natural land contours. Birmingham real estate promoter and civic leader, Robert Jemison, Jr., began development as Mountain Terrace . . . — — Map (db m26983) HM
Avondale Park, dedicated in 1886, is one of Birmingham's earliest parks. The park site was chosen because of its natural spring, which was a popular attraction with the local people, as well as a favorite stopping point for weary travelers along . . . — — Map (db m55951) HM
The Fourth Avenue "Strip" thrived during a time when downtown privileges for blacks were limited. Although blacks could shop at some white-owned stores, they did not share the same privileges and services as white customers, so they created . . . — — Map (db m26985) HM
Built in 1935, remodeled 1945 (corner 4th Ave. N. & 17th St. N.)
The Carver Theatre for the Performing Arts was built in 1935 and
refitted in 1945 with all of the modern comforts and features of the
day, including 1,300 theatre chairs and . . . — — Map (db m188189) HM
Built 1913, 310 18th St. N.
The Alabama Penny Savings Bank, founded by Sixteenth Street
Baptist Church pastor Rev. William R. Pettiford, was Alabama's
first Black-owned bank and the second-largest Black bank in the
country by 1907. He . . . — — Map (db m188950) HM
During the first 30 years of his 54-year-old practice, Attorney Shores practiced all over the State of Alabama - from the Tennessee line to the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile Bay, and from the Mississippi borders to the Georgia limits. During the period . . . — — Map (db m26720) HM
Built 1940, 1420 7th Ave. N.
The Ballard House honors a time when thriving
neighborhoods; businesses, churches, social, cultural,
and civic organizations; made up a dynamic
African-American community during the first half of
the 20th . . . — — Map (db m187886) HM
Built 1992, 520 16th St. N.
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute contains permanent exhibitions and photo galleries, offering visitors a self-directed
journey through the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and
1960s to the human rights . . . — — Map (db m187515) HM
Civil rights activist and pastor, the Rev. Calvin Wallace Woods Sr. was born in Birmingham in 1933. The son of a Baptist preacher, Woods attended historic miles college and various seminary institutions. He distinguished himself as a leader during . . . — — Map (db m187533) HM
The economic center of the Black retail district was on nearby Fourth
Avenue North. This historic area also served as the main cultural, social
and religious center of Black Birmingham. Blacks felt more relaxed
among their own people in and . . . — — Map (db m187761) HM
The Brock building was established in 1915, located at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and 18th Street North, was built while the area was residential. The three-story building housed a hotel upstairs that catered to professional musicians and . . . — — Map (db m26723) HM
Son of a Swedish ironmaster, Linn built Birmingham's first industry, Birmingham Car & Foundry Company (Linn Iron Works); the first bank, The National Bank of Birmingham; and the City's first park, called Linn Park.
When the population was less . . . — — Map (db m216140) HM
In Tribute to
Carrie A. Tuggle
1858 - 1924
Scholar, Teacher and Christian.
A life of unselfish service
to the troubled and the
homeless black boys and girls.
In 1903, she founded
a school and orphanage,
the Tuggle . . . — — Map (db m27391) HM
The use of schoolchildren in the Movement unnerved Police Commissioner "Bull” Connor, as well as the rest of Birmingham. But the success
of “D-Day” led to a second day, “Double D-Day," where more children,
about 2,000, skipped school to protest. . . . — — Map (db m187838) HM
Rev. Bevel gave Birmingham children a chance to play important roles in
the struggle for equality. As their field marshal, he turned hundreds of
recruits into an effective non-violent army that “Project C" unleashed
on the retail district. Images . . . — — Map (db m187767) HM
Built 1922, 1630 4th Ave. N.
Built and designed by African Americans, the Colored Masonic
Temple served as their only major business and social meeting
place for decades. The Temple's gilded auditorium hosted many elegant social functions . . . — — Map (db m188188) HM
In the 1940s and 1950s, the NAACP filed a stream of lawsuits against Jim
Crow laws that had given Whites political, economic and social
superiority over Blacks for more than 100 years. Most of Birmingham's
NAACP cases, filed by local Black . . . — — Map (db m187775) HM
Rev. Shuttlesworth often said he expected to die at an early age in his
toe-to-toe battles with violent White segregationists who were bent on
maintaining power. But he outlived Dr. King and Rev. Abernathy, the last of
"the Big Three." He lived . . . — — Map (db m187571) HM
Leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) learned they could apply economic pressure to White businesses with more effective results than moral persuasion alone. Therefore, the central strategy of the Birmingham Campaign . . . — — Map (db m73037) HM
Born Jan. 15, 1929 Assassinated Apr. 4. 1968 "...yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I was a drum major for peace..." His dream liberated Birmingham from itself and began a . . . — — Map (db m73007) HM
Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth invited Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Birmingham in 1962. Shuttlesworth saw potential in the young minister, and their combined efforts were instrumental in Birmingham's desegregation. The campaign catapulted King into the . . . — — Map (db m73031) HM
Dedicated to
Dr. Ruth J. Jackson
1898-1982
This woman of strength and vision graduated from the Poro School of Cosmetology, the first black registered school in the State of Alabama. At the vanguard of the Civil Rights Movement, she was . . . — — Map (db m27090) HM
Built 1917, 1701 4th Ave. N.
From 1900 to 1960, the Fourth Avenue area west of 18th Street in
downtown Birmingham was the business, social and cultural center
of the city's African-American community. Every major historical
and cultural . . . — — Map (db m188039) HM
Eddie James Kendrick, nicknamed "cornbread", was born the eldest of five children to Johnny and Lee Bell Kendrick in Union Springs, Alabama.
After attending Western-Olin High School in Ensley, Alabama, Eddie was persuaded by his childhood . . . — — Map (db m26724) HM
Built 1999, SW corner of 4th Ave. N. & 18th St. N.
Urban Impact worked with artist Ronald McDowell who wanted
to create a public park along Fourth Avenue to honor Eddie
Kendricks, Birmingham native and a lead singer of the
legendary Motown . . . — — Map (db m188036) HM
Emory Overton Jackson was born on September 8, 1908 in Buena Vista, Georgia to Will Burt and Lovie Jones Jackson. E. O. Jackson and his seven siblings were raised in the middle-class Birmingham enclave of Enon Ridge, located on the west side of town . . . — — Map (db m64736) HM
Constant mistreatment by a brutal police force, a racist state government
and a White community that was either hostile or unconcerned pushed
many Blacks in Birmingham to the breaking point. Many were stuck in
low-paying, low-level jobs. Most . . . — — Map (db m187785) HM
Built 1928, 1717 4th Ave. N.
During the entertainment boom of the 1920s, The Famous, an
African-American movie theater, joined the Frolic, Lincoln,
Champion, Dixie and Savoy Theaters as places of entertainment
for African-Americans who . . . — — Map (db m188038) HM
This sculpture is dedicated to the Foot Soldiers of the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement.
With gallantry, courage and great bravery they faced the violence of attack dogs, high powered water hoses, and bombings. They were the fodder in the . . . — — Map (db m27394) HM
Prior to 1900 a "black business district" did not exist in Birmingham. In a pattern characteristic of Southern cities found during Reconstruction, black businesses developed alongside those of whites in many sections of the downtown area. . . . — — Map (db m174706) HM
The Fraternal Hotel Building was built in 1925. Some of the businesses that were located in this building included:
1925 - 1980 Fraternal Hotel
1925 - 1970 Fraternal Café
1950 - 1966 Monroe Steak House
1985 - 1994 Grand Lodge Knights of . . . — — Map (db m27518) HM
Businesses that occupied this building between 1908 - 1970
1908 - 1913 Southern Bell Telephone Company Stockroom
1915 - 1926 OK French Dry Cleaning Company
1927 - 1938 George Kanelis Billiards
1940 - 1945 Alex’s Steak House
1946 - . . . — — Map (db m27521) HM
Built 1950 (Remodeled in the 1970s), 618 19th St. N.
The Greyhound bus station was a stop of the 1961 Freedom Riders, a
group of Blacks and Whites who rode buses together across state
lines to disobey segregation laws in the Deep South. A . . . — — Map (db m187718) HM
You are standing at Ground Zero of the 1963 civil rights struggle in Birmingham. When African-American leaders and citizens resolved to fight the oppression of a strictly segregated society, they were met with vitriol and violence despite their own . . . — — Map (db m73015) HM
Unfair laws forced Birmingham Blacks to create their own distinctive
world of economic and social self-reliance. The historic Black business
district extended several blocks around Kelly Ingram Park and contained
a concentration of Black-owned . . . — — Map (db m187760) HM
In memory of the
Pioneers
many of whom sleep in this saved spot and whose vision, courage, and arduous labor have been abundantly rewarded by the wonderful development of this great city and district
This Chapel is erected by . . . — — Map (db m206426) HM
The first march to City Hall was organized in 1955 by Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth when he petitioned the city to hire Negro policemen. By 1963, thousands of Blacks marched on City Hall to protest Jim Crow laws that were a constant reminder of Blacks' . . . — — Map (db m73036) HM
People across the country took notice of the Birmingham demonstrations.
Donations began pouring in to help post bail for hundreds of marchers,
mostly children. Local leaders estimated the amount for bail at well over
$200,000. As anger grew in . . . — — Map (db m187835) HM
In dedication to Julius Ellsberry, the first Black Alabama man to die in World War II; born Birmingham, Ala, 1922.
Enlisted in the U.S. Navy, 1940; First Class Mate Attendant aboard battleship Oklahoma in the Battle of Pearl . . . — — Map (db m63761) HM WM
Built 1871 (renovated from 1979 to mid-1990s),
1601 & 1630 6th Ave. N.
Kelly Ingram Park was the main battleground in the 1963
Birmingham Campaign, dubbed “Project C" (with “C”
meaning "Confrontation"). The campaign was the . . . — — Map (db m187845) HM
Responsible for much planning and leadership, the clergy played a central role in the Birmingham Campaign--like the famous Palm Sunday incident in 1963 (see nearby plaque). Local clergy like Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth worked with out-of-town ministers, . . . — — Map (db m73080) HM
The non-violent marches for freedom in Birmingham inspired sympathy
demonstrations in Alabama, across the United States and around the
world. Average Americans began to insist that the federal government
step in to guarantee Blacks their rights . . . — — Map (db m187821) HM
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. replaced his initial reluctance to using
"children as foot soldiers' with approval. Thousands of newly recruited
child foot soldiers successfully marched toward the retail district, with
hundreds arrested for the . . . — — Map (db m187773) HM
Rev. Bevel and his SCLC team targeted high school students such as
cheerleaders, football players and other student leaders as foot soldiers
in the Movement. These popular teens could influence their peers to join
the sit-ins, pickets and . . . — — Map (db m188922) HM
On nightly news programs and in newspapers, the images of Birmingham
children under police attack shocked and sickened the nation. It was the
reaction that “Project C” organizers had hoped for. The "Children's Crusade” revived the Birmingham . . . — — Map (db m187837) HM
Built 1955, 1530 4th Ave. N.
Metropolitan AME Zion Church was one of the Movement
churches, hosting ACMHR mass meetings in 1962 and serving as
one of the starting points of the massive demonstrations of
April - May 1963. “Project C" . . . — — Map (db m188033) HM
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
(Front):Osmond Kelly Ingram 1887-1917
First American sailor killed in action in World War 1, aboard U.S.S. "Cassin"
October 1, 1917.
Medal of Honor
War Cross - Italy
(Back):U.S. Destroyer DD-225
U.S.S. Osmond Ingram . . . — — Map (db m63762) HM
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