Memorable Moments in “The Magic City”–a.k.a. Birmingham, AL

We started the day off in Birmingham at Kelly Ingram Park. In 1963, the nation was shocked when Eugene “Bull” Connor, the Public Safety Commissioner of Birmingham ordered police and firefighters to arrest and attack a civil right demonstration in the park. Protestors hoped at to break the back of Jim Crow in what was widely regarded to be the most segregated city in the South. The images of water canons and attack dogs being used to “control” a non-violent protest led to a public outcry against segregation in the city.  President Kennedy responded by submitting legislation to Congress that eventually became the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. Today Kelly Ingram Park is a memorial to those events.  Some of the public art and sculpture there is old, but some is brand new.  Once again, we were impressed by the recent push in Southern cities like Montgomery and Birmingham to face and memorialize their past instead of turning away and ignoring the conversation.

Across the street is the 16th street Baptist Church where Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robinson and Carol Denice McNair died in an explosion.  In an act of terrorism, members of the KKK used dynamite to blow-up part of the church and this resulted in the murder of these four children.

We ended our morning with a visit to the new Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Not only was the U.S. Attorney General, Loretta Lynch–the first African-American woman to hold that position–attending an event there, but also baseball player, Mo’ne Davis!  Loretta Lynch was under heavy police escort, so we weren’t able to snap a group pic with her.  However, one of our students successfully managed to  sweet talk a photograph with Mo’ne!  Outside the museum, we witnessed some ongoing protests

After lunch, we headed to Sloss Furnaces.  This is an abandoned steel foundry, a symbol of Birmingham’s industrial prowess. Aside from having an very interesting history, it is now home to many ghosts!  It is also a great location to make art in the form of industrial photography.  Our students raved about this place.

  

After Sloss – we checked out Vulcan Park – the symbol of Birmingham.  We got some great views from the top of the statue.

 Then onto dinner at Saw’s, a Birmingham institution.  We got some fried green tomatoes, grits, sweet potato fries, okra, and a heart attack on a plate called a “stack!”