Exploring Alabama’s Complex Past: Teaching the Legacy of the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing5/7/2024
Alabama has a rich and complex history, one that is marked by moments of both triumph and tragedy. The bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham that happened on September 15, 1963, remains one of the city’s most devastating events. The 16th Street Baptist Church was a prominent African American church in Birmingham that was known for its role in the civil rights movement. It served as a rallying point for activists and hosted meetings advocating for desegregation and equal rights. On the morning of September 15, 1963, a powerful bomb exploded underneath the steps of the church, causing a portion of the building to collapse. The explosion occurred just before Sunday services were set to begin, resulting in the deaths of four young girls and injuring over twenty others. The victims of the bombing were Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Denise McNair, all of whom were attending Sunday school at the time of the explosion. The tragic event of this day is something that every young child from Alabama, or in the neighboring states, comes to learn about.
On Tuesday, August 25, 2020, multiple cities across Jefferson County, Alabama, held their municipal elections. Voters in vital economic centers such as Hoover, Homewood, Irondale, and Vestavia Hills all went to the polls to choose who would lead the further development of their city for the next four years. But no city in Jefferson County had an election quite like that of Pleasant Grove. What happened in Pleasant Grove on this election day was historic—the city elected its first Black city council members. The election marked the victory of four Black councilors—Kevin Dunn, Yolanda Lawson, Eric Calhoun, and Ray Lassiter. This milestone was achieved partly due to a lawsuit filed in 2018 by the NAACP. This lawsuit alleged that Pleasant Grove’s at-large voting system was racially discriminatory and was the reason why a city that had a population that was majority African American, had never elected a Black city councilor. The lawsuit succeeded, and an agreement was reached between the NAACP and the City of Pleasant Grove that resulted in a new voting system: voters would be able to cast five votes, which could be spread across five different candidates, or all five votes could be used on one candidate. This, however, was not the first time that the history of Pleasant Grove had been altered by a court decision.
A movie ends. The credits roll. A litany of behind-the-scenes names and job titles scroll past. One of the names that you have likely seen dozens of times without even realizing it is also one of the most respected production sound mixers in the business: Alabama native Willie D. Burton. If you’re not sure what a sound mixer does on a film, they are responsible for planning and executing the sound recording and balance during a shoot. |
Alabama Heritage BLOG
At Alabama Heritage, we owe many of our successes and smooth operations to our fabulous student interns. We hope that with this blog--written mostly by our interns as well as history students from UAB and a few from our own editors--our readers will have an opportunity to get to know the students who bring so much to the table with their enthusiasm, hard work, and expertise! If you're interested in our internship program, check out the details here. Archives
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