Montgomery

After Birmingham, we traveled to Montgomery.

Our first stop was Rosa Parks Library and Museum. The Rosa Parks Library and Museum includes exhibits and resources for research related to the life of Rosa Parks, and the people and events associated with the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Next, we went to the Federal Courthouse in Montgomery for a symposium with the Honorable Myron H. Thompson, United States District Judge, Middle District of Alabama. The symposium was titled “Law and Justice: “Berlin 1933, Birmingham, 1963,” and held in the former courtroom of Judge Frank Johnson, Jr.

Later, we visited the Montgomery Greyhound bus station, and Montgomery historic sites, including Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and First Baptist Church.

Next we went to the National Center for the Study of Civil Rights & African-American Culture at Alabama State University: A research institute that includes information and archives of the Civil Rights Movement as well as African-American cultural documents, artifacts and memorabilia. This year the Center celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Fifth Circuit’s decision in Dixon v. Alabama State Board of Education, extending First and Fourteenth Amendment protections to public university students (including ASU students) involved in the Montgomery protests.

We ended with dinner with Montgomery Improvement Association veterans at the Faculty Dining Room of the Fred Shuttlesworth Dining Hall at Alabama State.

The next morning, we visited the Southern Poverty Law Center & National Civil Rights Memorial. The Center’s civil rights law practice group and the Center’s Intelligence Project director discussed civil actions against hate groups, and the Center’s immigrant justice and juvenile justice projects. The Center’s programs also include educating schools, police organizations and the public about the tactics of hate groups, and the “Teach Tolerance Project.” Students will also visit the Wall of Tolerance and the National Civil Rights Memorial.

Here are all of my entries and posts about our time spent exploring civil rights in Montgomery.