Civil Rights Trail -Birmingham Alabama
Birmingham Alabama is our first stop while exploring parts of the US Civil Rights Trail . We last visited here on our first year on the road. Finding ourselves in the south this winter, we are taking the time to visit important areas in the fight for Civil Rights. Our first stop was the 16th Street Baptist Church . Organized in 1873, it was the first black church in Birmingham. The church was the center for community life. During the 1960’s it served as headquarters for the civil rights meetings and rallies. In 1963 the marches and demonstrations held from the church produced police retaliation and brutality. Many who marched from the church were school children. Thousands were arrested and jailed. Soon the jails were filled and it was then that the Bull Connor, the Public Safety Commissioner, chose to turn fire hoses and police dogs on those who were marching. It was these broadcast images that began to bring the struggle of the civil rights movement into the living rooms