Today was all in Alabama. In a little town called Anniston, the Freedom Riders were beaten at two bus stations here. If you know who the Freedom Riders were you can scroll down. If not I will tell you. They were people, both whites and blacks, who rode interstate buses from D.C. to Jackson, Mississippi, to see if the integration laws for interstate travel would actually be upheld. In Anniston all of them tried to use the "whites only" waiting area and restrooms and were met by mobs who beat them - some were put into the hospital. The mob slashed the tires on one of the buses. The bus driver tried to drive as far out-of-town as possible, but after several miles had to pull off the road. The mob had followed them and again began pulling people off the bus and beating them. Then they firebombed the bus with most of the people still on board. Fortunately, everyone was able to get out of the bus.
Kent and I marveled over and over at the bravery of these people. We saw a video of one man who had been beaten, speaking from a hospital bed, who was planning to get back on the bus the next day and continue the ride!!
We then walked across the street to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. It was a great display and gave us an idea of what life was like under segregation.
These murals identify where the two bus stations were:
This is the site of the firebombing and the future site of a commemorative park:
Kent and I marveled over and over at the bravery of these people. We saw a video of one man who had been beaten, speaking from a hospital bed, who was planning to get back on the bus the next day and continue the ride!!
A small (or large) diversion on our way out of town--"World's Largest Office Chair"
We discovered as the day went on, that our trip was actually following the trail of the Freedom Rider buses, almost exactly! Who knew. :)
We drove to Birmingham, Alabama. Our first visit was to the 16th Street Baptist Church, from which the children marchers were sent out to their arrests, and the site of a bombing that killed four young girls.
Where the black marker is, there were stairs going up to a door on the second floor. A segregationist planted a bomb underneath the stairs that blew out windows, collapsed the stairs and killed 4 girls, ages 11-14, that were in the basement getting ready for meetings. The marker is the spot where they found their bodies:
This is inside the church:
This stain glass window was partially destroyed
and had to be restored:
To say the least, this was a very sobering place.
We then walked across the street to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. It was a great display and gave us an idea of what life was like under segregation.
I missed the important part of this setting -- off to the right is a little black girl peering in, wishing she could go inside:
This was very moving and thought-provoking.
The site of the Birmingham City Jail, where MLK wrote his "Letter from Birmingham Jail"
After lunch we drove to Montgomery and checked in. Our hotel was on Commerce street. Their commerce used to be slaves.
This street comes up from the river. The slaves would be brought to the dock here and then kept in
warehouses, until auction day:
This circle around the fountain is where the
sale of the slaves took place:
Just a short walk from here we went to the Rosa Parks' Museum. It is right at the spot where Mrs. Parks was taken off the bus and arrested for not giving her seat up to a white man.
This fun sculpture was right next to the place
where we ate our dinner:
After dinner we took a walk down Commerce street
to the river . . . .
. . . . And back:
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