Dedication celebration held for Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument

Saturday was a day filled with pride and remembrance in the Birmingham Civil Rights District.

The Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument was proclaimed as part of the National Park System on Jan. 12 as one of former President Barack Obama's final acts. On Saturday, April 15, from 1-3 p.m., a dedication celebration took place to honor the new national monument and all the people who put forth effort to make it happen.  

"I know the sacrifice that our foot soldiers have made for that day to come," Mayor William Bell said. "This dedication is to say thank you to those individuals."

The dedication ceremony included a welcome address from Gen. Charles C. Krulak, retired Commandant of the Marine Corps and former member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; opening remarks from Carolyn McKinstry, a 16th Street Church bombing survivor; a speech from Odessa Woolfolk, the Founding Board Chair of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute; and a reading of the Presidential Proclamation from District 7 City Councilor James Roberson Jr. 

Bell gave the Keynote Address, where he spoke about first meeting Obama and how he remembered him walking around the Civil Rights District to learn more and understand the history of Birmingham before he became president. After he became president, Bell remembered a conversation he had with him.

"I told him, 'You have the opportunity to preserve those hallowed grounds,' " Bell said. 

Bell and his wife were both invited to Obama's farewell address, which was the same night he learned the area was going to be established as a part of the National Park System. He spoke of tears that night and continued pride for the city of Birmingham and what it has become today, as well as all the sacrifices made by people in the past.

The Birmingham Civil Rights District area includes the A.G. Gaston Motel, Kelly Ingram Park, 16th Street Baptist Church, The Fourth Avenue District and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. 

Bell said the A.G. Gaston Motel is currently being restored.

To learn more about the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, go to npa.gov/bicr or visit their Facebook page here.