Birmingham

It's difficult to believe that Gulf Shores and Birmingham are in the same state; a short 4 hours apart. I woke up on a beautiful beach and spent the afternoon viewing the chronology of one of America's worst stories.

My day started at 3:00 a.m.  I don't know why I woke up but I lay there worrying until 4:30 when I decided I might as well get up and take care of what I was worrying about. So, at 4:30 a.m. I was packing the cooler and doing the last minute dishes. By 6:00 we were saying goodbye to the beach and following a quick breakfast at the Waffle House,we parted ways with the Griffith's and headed for Birmingham.

Ken dropped me off at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute while he went on to the Civilian Marksmanship Program store in Anniston. I immediately crossed 16th street to walk around the 16th Street Baptist Church, the site of the 1963 bombing. It was very moving to walk around the church and to stand in front of the window where the 4 little girls were killed. I read "The Watson's Go to Birmingham" to my class every year so it was interesting to see the church firsthand.  They don't give tours on Saturday so I wasn't able to go inside the church. I thought about sneaking in with an African American group but I figured they'd notice me since I wasn't wearing one of their shirts.

I then went to the Institute which tells the story of racism and the Civil Rights movement in Birmingham. Birmingham became a town in 1871. The town grew up around the Sloss Furnaces, a pig iron factory. Freed slaves and European immigrants came to the area to take jobs in the mines around the iron mill. Over time the town became segregated, first by choice, then by code. By the mid 1900's Birmingham was the most cruelly segregated cities in the US. It was so bad that in a 1961 TV special a young black girl was quoted saying that no one should live in Birmingham. It was known as Bombingham due to the number of bombings.   By 1963, children were organized into nonviolent protest marches to stand in the place of their parents who were unable to march for fear of retribution. The children were attacked by police, dogs and firehoses. They were arrested and jailed. Many were held in outdoor pens because the juvenile jail was full.  In September of 1963 the KKK planted a bomb on the 16th Street church in retaliation for hosting the marches.

The Institute is a nicely interpreted museum. The exhibits are designed to draw you into the time period. Highlights for me were the burned out hull of of the Freedom Rider bus that was burned in Anniston, the jail bars from Martin Luther King's jail cell and the Bull Connor crowd control tank.  However, I was most drawn to and moved by the small display case which held Denise McNair's shoes, purse, necklace and bracelet that were found on her body after the bombing.  It brought home the fact that she was just a young girl all dressed up for Sunday School. Watson's has a scene where Kenny thinks he found his sister in the debris because of the Buster Brown logo in a shoe.  There, today, in Denise's shoe,was Buster Brown. Wow.

After the museum I took a quick turn through Kelly Ingram Park, where the Children's marches took place. There are life-like sculptures through out the park depicting the dogs, the firehoses and the children who wouldn't give up.  I didn't spend much time in the park because it was hot and there were some shady looking people around the fringes. I walked up to 20th street,about a half mile away, and caught a bus to our hotel. That was a little nerve wracking but I did it.

For dinner we drove over to Irondale to eat at the Irondale cafe. The cafe was the inspiration for the book and movie called Fried Green Tomatoes. I had to try the FGTs and Chess pie. They were OK. We left full but underwhelmed.

Tomorrow we head east to Stone Mountain and Atlanta. The Griffith's are making one long drive and should be home in the wee hours of Sunday.  It's one thing when we make that drive. It's another when it's your kids!