 The16th Street Baptist Church section of the Milestone exhibition gallery in the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, in Birmingham, Alabama. Abomb went off at the church on September 15, 1963. --(HABS photo) | |
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| Established | November 1992 |
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| Location | Birmingham, Alabama |
| Type | History museum |
| Collection size | Multimedia exhibitions on the Civil Rights Movement and African-American history |
| Visitors | Over 25,000 in its first week |
| Website | Official Website |
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is a comprehensive museum and educational center inBirmingham, Alabama, that depicts the events and actions of the 1963Birmingham campaign, itsChildren's Crusade, and others of theCivil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. The Institute is located in theCivil Rights District, which includes the historic16th Street Baptist Church,Kelly Ingram Park, Fourth Avenue Business District, and the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame located in theCarver Theatre. The Institute opened in November 1992, and had more than 25,000 visitors during its first week.
The Institute showcases a walking journey through the "living institution", which displays the lessons of the past as a positive way to chart new directions for the future. The permanent exhibitions are a self-directed journey through Birmingham's contributions to the Civil Rights Movement and human rights struggles. Multimedia exhibitions focus on the history of African-American life and the struggle for civil rights. The Oral History Project, one of the museum's multimedia exhibits, documents Birmingham's role in the Civil Rights Movement through the voices of movement participants. The museum is an affiliate in theSmithsonian Affiliations program. Through this program, the museum can acquire long-term loans and is currently hosting theSmithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service exhibition "Let Your Motto Be resistance."[1]
On May 24, 2013, PresidentBarack Obama signed into lawH.R. 360 from the113th United States Congress, a bill which awarded theCongressional Gold Medal to Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley to commemorate the lives they lost 50 years ago in thebombing of 16th Street Baptist Church.[2] The gold medal was given to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute to display or loan out to other museums.[2]
On March 21, 2016,Rep. Terri Sewell introduced to theUnited States House of Representatives H.R. 4817, a bill that would designate theBirmingham Civil Rights District, including the Civil Rights Institute, as a National Park. On March 28, 2016, the bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands.[3] However, a portion of the district was designated by executive order by President Obama as theBirmingham Civil Rights National Monument on January 12, 2017.[4][5]
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33°30′58″N86°48′54″W / 33.516°N 86.815°W /33.516; -86.815
