The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, a Memorial to the Civil Rights Struggle by Dr. Horace Huntley

On the eve of the modern-day Civil Rights Movement, Birmingham, Alabama, was a city of many complexions, complications and contradictions.  The city had more than 100,000 African-American residents who were systematically excluded from the political, social, educational and economic arenas, except on a “separate but equal” basis.  Political offices evaded Birmingham’s Black population due to their conspicuous absence from the voting rolls.  There were laws that forbade social interaction between the races, including the segregation of all educational and religious institutions.

Several entities can be cited for their roles in the development, maintenance and finally the eradication of the Birmingham racist status quo.  Bull Connor’s mentality, supported by the “captains” of industry, and even a wing of the labor movement, played prominent roles in creating the atmosphere for segregation and inequality.  Another wing of the labor movement invariably helped lay the foundation for interracial cooperation.  The executive, judicial and finally the legislative branches of the federal government were instrumental in addressing this problem of such long standing.  Since the 1930s there were small groups of Black and white citizens working together to expunge Birmingham of the debilitating effects of racism.  However, the most important ingredient in this quest for sanity was the courageous “soldiers” of the Movement.

Long considered the most racially polarized city in the nation, Birmingham became the site for some of the most dramatic confrontations of the Civil Rights Movement.  Although many incidents preceded the demonstrations in 1963, that was the year that local and national civil rights organizations launched their combined attack on Birmingham’s racial status quo.  The city was the site of protest against segregation at lunch counters, of a “children’s crusade” which recruited thousands of elementary, high school and college students for demonstrations, and of retaliations that included mass arrests, attacks by Bull Connor and his henchmen and dogs, and many unsolved bombings.

Through the turbulent Spring and Summer of 1963, Birmingham loomed as a symbol of determination for change.  Many heroes/heroines emerged doing this struggle.  Men, women and children made commitments and sacrifices that served to change the attitude and actions of the “Johannesburg of the South” forever.

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) is a memorial to this struggle and those who waged it.  The Institute was conceived as a result of the foresight of two mayors of Birmingham, Richard Arrington and David Vann.  In November of 1992, their dream was realized with the opening of the facility that has received more than 100,000 visitors each year since.  The storyline of the Institute is told through the various galleries.  The “Barriers” Gallery depicts the obstacles encountered by Black people from public accommodations, education, work, the courts, housing, religion and recreation to stereotypes of African Americans “in the minds of whites.”  The “Confrontations” gallery describes the various perceptions of race from several vantage points.  Many aspects of the Movement from the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Freedom Rides, Voting Rights, the Children’s Crusade, and the March on Washington are detailed.  A gallery entitled  “Paths Forward,” depicts what has taken place in Birmingham since the turbulence of 1963.  There is a gallery devoted to human rights, “Beyond Birmingham,” illustrating international aspects of the movement.  The newest gallery is The Richard Arrington, Jr. Resource Gallery.  The centerpiece of the Resource Gallery is the Oral History Project.

The Oral History Project chronicles the experiences of the “Foot Soldiers” of the Movement.  To date, more than 300 interviews have been conducted capturing the spirit and determination of those who participated in various capacities.  Reverend Jerry Green served as security for the Movement.  He said, “I guarded houses and churches every night...because they [KKK] were talking about bombing them.  We were well organized and worked in shifts.”  Margaret Givner Brown, an elementary school student at the time, described how she decided to demonstrate.  Her parents were very active and did not oppose their children’s involvement.  “My sister told me she wanted to participate and that she was not afraid.  I told her that dogs would be there and she still was not scared.  She was older than I was, and I said ‘well if you go, I want to go.’  Her confidence and lack of fear made me brave and I wanted to participate too.  I was eight years old and when we were arrested, the police asked my name.  Just as I had been instructed to do, I simply said, ‘no comment'.”  Mrs. Flora W. Smith was 54 years old, attended the mass meetings, but was hesitant to demonstrate.  She said, “I would pray every night that the Lord would send some marchers, but I wasn’t about to go myself.  Reverend Shuttlesworth made his appeal by saying that ‘Mordecai told Esther don’t you think that because you are in the King’s palace that you will not be destroyed along with the rest of us.’  The next morning I woke up singing movement songs and decided that I would be arrested that day.  I said I am going to be somebody’s mother today, in jail.  I packed my little bag with my Bible and my toothpaste and got arrested.”  Jessie Shepherd was a 15-year-old high school student when arrested for demonstrating.  She spoke of her experience. “Well I remember being very scared and we all cried a lot because we wanted to go home.  And we were told that we could not go home, that we had to stay until the Movement got the funds to get us out…. The first day wasn’t too bad, but as the days progressed, it got worse and worse….”

These interviews are examples of the richness of the Oral Histories gathered, and the galleries are testimony to the tenaciousness of those who have been nameless and voiceless in telling their own stories.

Dr. Horace Huntley is the director of the Oral History Project at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.