Birmingham is rich in historic and heritage legacies. Cultural preservation is the deliberate act of maintaining cultural heritage from the past to benefit from the past to benefit present and future generations. Cultural preservation is significant not only to Birmingham but indeed to the world. What happened in Birmingham changed the course of the nation in granting civil and human rights to all citizens of the United States. We owe it to future generations to preserve the stories and places that chronicle the civil rights movement.
The Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument was created by President Barack Obama on January 12, 2017, through a presidential proclamation with management by the National Park Service. It is composed of significant historic sites that inclue the A.G. Gaston Motel, 16th Street Baptist Church, Historic Bethel Baptist Church, St. Paul United Methodist Church, Colored Masonic Temple, Kelly Ingram Park, along with other sites, including the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and the Historic 4th Avenue Business District.
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
- Photo Courtesy of Ted Tucker, Greater Birmingham
Convention & Visitors Bureau
The Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument was created by President Barack Obama on January 12, 2017, through a presidential proclamation with management by the National Park Service. It is composed of significant historic sites that include the A.G. Gaston Motel, 16th Street Baptist Church, Historic Bethel Baptist Church, St. Paul United Methodist Church, Colored Masonic Temple, Kelly Ingram Park, along with other sites, including the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and the Histroric 4th Avenue Business District.
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
- Photo Courtesy of Ted Tucker, Greater Birmingham
Convention & Visitors Bureau
The Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument was created by President Barack Obama on January 12, 2017, through a presidential proclamation with management by the National Park Service. It is composed of significant historic sites that include the A.G. Gaston Motel, 16th Street Baptist Church, Historic Bethel Baptist Church, St. Paul United Methodist Church, Colored Masonic Temple, Kelly Ingram Park, along with other sites, including the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and the Histroric 4th Avenue Business District.
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
- Photo Courtesy of Ted Tucker, Greater Birmingham
Convention & Visitors Bureau
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Gaston 1954 Wing
The A.G. Gaston Motel is the key historic site or the Birmingham Civil National Monument, a collaborative partnership of the National Park Service and the City of Birmingham and its Historical Preservation Authority, The A.G. Gaston Motel is the Site where the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders met in the "War Room", Room 30 to strategize and plan "Project C", the 1963 campaign of protests and marches. These action in Birmingham changed the world and the course of the nation in granting civil and human rights to all citizens. The restoration of the 1954 wing was completed in December 2020, with the 1968 wing scheduled to be completed in 2022.
