Birmingham was the focal point for our last day on tour--with the bulk of our time spent on Sixteenth Street in the vicinity of Kelly Ingram Park. The park, famously or infamously,
hosted some of the most startling images of the movement--young children taking to the streets with every intention of filling up the local jails and white law enforcement setting upon them with dogs and high-powered water cannons. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Project C had begun to stall--even in the wake of Martin Luther King's decision to defy local authority, take to the streets in protest, and go to jail himself (where he would draft his "Letter from Birmingham Jail"). The adult Black population of Birmingham had not stepped up in large numbers to support SCLC's program in the city. So, in response, King's lieutenant James Bevel made the suggestion to begin to recruit and train children in nonviolent direct action. Nearby 16th Street Baptist Church would become a major staging ground for the protests.Today, the park is an anchor for a series of Movement landmarks--including the 16th St. Baptist Church, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and the A.G. Gaston Motel (where King and the SCLC staff typically stayed while working in town). I was struck by the close proximity of all of these sites. Standing in the middle of Kelly Ingram park, visitors have a vantage point of each location and can quickly begin to imagine the memorable scenes from 1963. City officials and private donors have also made this effort easy by placing several monuments to participants in the Movement. As you walk into the park from the entrance diagonally from 16th St. Baptist, there is a statue to the "Drum Major for Justice"--King. Other monuments recognize the dog and firehose attacks and the willingness of children to face real danger in order to fight segregation.
In the center of the park walking path and in the walls that frame the park is the phrase "From Revolution to Reconciliation"--a theme that city leaders of Birmingham want to emphasize to its visitors, and from our perspective a sense that many Birmingham residents are living up to in their daily lives. (I am reminded especially of our experience with legendary jazz musician "Doc" Adams at the Alabama Jazz Museum, and the welcome that some in the group received the last night at Ona's Jazz Club).
The group toured the historic 16th Street Baptist Church later that morning. The congregation has roots in its location dating back to the 1880s, the current building was complete in 1911. It is a stunning piece of architecture on the outside and inside. The 1963 bombing of the
church--shortly after the resolution of the Birmingham campaign and March on Washington--, injury of 22, and death of the 4 girls is the focus of most of the tour. The guide provided a video that allowed us to hear the perspectives of members who were there on that fateful day. Rev. John Cross--who was minister to the church at the time--was a prominent voice on the documentary. His recent death--in November 2007--made many on the tour realize how many of these voices have been lost simply because of the steady march of time--others this month include Montgomery's Johnnie Carr and the Rev. James Orange, a veteran of both the Birmingham and Selma campaigns.
One thing that our group has realized on this trip, however, is to expect the unexpected. Our guide provided us an interesting point-of-view. He was 16 years old in 1963, and a participant in the Children's Marches--arrested on the third day. We met and talked to no fewer than three more folks throughout the day--none scheduled to speak to us--who had also left school to march. The last impromptu conversation came from the chef who prepared our final banquet. These experiences validate Julian Bond's contention that the success of the Civil Rights Movement largely came about due to the extraordinary contributions of ordinary people.We spent the late afternoon and evening with a private tour and banquet at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (no doubt another perk of being in a group led by the chair of the NAACP). The directors and volunteers at the Institute could not have been more gracious to us. I must admit that upon arrival, I was not especially looking forward to this, our last museum. I had allowed myself to believe that with all of the museums we had seen over the week, this one could not possibly add or have a different take. I was wrong and apologize directly to Mrs. Odessa Woolfolk--a veteran of the Movement and one of the primary catalysts for the Institute. In addition to an amazing museum that traces Birmingham's development and race relations, it also houses an extensive archive and offers educational programming suitable for all ages.
At dinner, our organizers outdid themselves once more by putting together a great program--including a talk by Mrs. Camille Morgan. Mrs. Morgan and her husband Charles were among the few white Birmingham leaders to speak out against Connor's violence during the marches and also against the bombing of the 16th St. Church. In dramatic fashion, Charles Morgan delivered a speech in 1963 on the theme "Who killed those little girls? We all did." For his break from the mainstream, the Morgans were forced to leave Birmingham in 1963. Other dinner guests included Mrs. Woolfolk (of the BCRI), and Morris Dees and Richard Cohen (of the Southern Poverty Law Center).
The evening ended as the group clasped hands and sang the Freedom Song "We Shall Overcome." An emotional end to a trip of a lifetime. . . . one that I don't think any of us will soon forget, and one that I hope each of us can take back to our communities.
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