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Alabama National Monuments
Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument
10/14/2017 Angling up to Birmingham, we parked for some related NHL and NPS sites. The Birmingham Civil
Rights NM is relatively new with no visitor facilities yet, but there was plenty to see to understand the historical significance,
including an NHL: Birmingham Civil Rights Institute - a cultural and educational research center whose exhibits provide an overview
of the struggle for civil rights in Birmingham. Just a photo-op for us. A.G. Gaston Motel – in 1963 leaders of the civil rights
movement, including Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., took up residence at the motel where they strategized and made critical
decisions about the civil rights campaign. Eventually this may become the park unit VC. Kelly Ingram Park – this was particularly
well done and of the most interest to us, with various sculptures and vignettes depicting the events of the civil rights protests,
including police putting attack dogs and water cannons on protestors and the church bombing that killed four little girls. Sixteenth
Street Baptist Church NHL - target of the 1963 bombing that killed four young girls who were preparing for Sunday school, which
became a galvanizing force for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
A. G. Gaston Motel outside ...
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... sign ...
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... and inside courtyard
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Entrance to Kelly Ingram Park
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Cops ...
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... and attack dogs
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Water cannons
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Dr. King
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Not afraid of jail
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Girls killed by a bomb ...
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... in the Baptist Church
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Civil Rights Institute
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Freedom Riders National Monument
10/15/2017 We continued on to Aniston for the Freedom Riders NM, another new unit. We stopped outside town
for a marker where the Freedoms Riders' bus had to stop due to slashed tires and was set on fire with the Freedom Riders and
other innocent travelers still aboard. In town, we came to the terminal from where the bus originated and group of segregationists,
including members of the Ku Klux Klan, attacked the bus carrying African American and white Freedom Riders. The mob threw rocks,
broke windows, and slashed the tires of the bus. Although this unit is not developed yet, there was a mural painting of a full
size bus on the wall opposite the terminal departure port, along with lots of info depicting the timeline of the Riders' attempt
to continue their trip to New Orleans.
Looking down the Rider's route
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My taking a photo of ...
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... the informational signage
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The bus terminal
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Me and the NPS sign
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Ken taking a photo of ...
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... the signage out front
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The boarding area
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Great information display ...
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... with historical photos
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A panorama of the display
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Russell Cave National Monument
2/7/1995 Drove south into Alabama to Russell Cave National Monument. Walked to cave, looked around, saw slide show
- not really much there. Saw a good film at the visitor center.
The park sign
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A view of the cave
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