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| Legacy Museum |
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| White House of the Confederacy |
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| Alabama State Capitol |
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| Confederate Memorial Monument |
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| National Memorial for Peace and Justice |
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| Freedom Rider's Bus from Freedom Rides Museum |
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| Montgomery Slave Trade Marker |
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| Civil Rights Memorial |
EJI.org: The National Memorial for Peace and Justice
AL.com: How Long, Not Long
National Constitution Center: Dueling inaugural adresses
The last thing we’re visiting are the Montgomery Slave Trade Markers. These are significant because they help us to remember the injustices that occurred here. The slave trade in Montgomery was one of the biggest, booming slave trades in confederate states, and the slave population in Montgomery was higher than almost all other southern states at the start of the Civil War. Due to this, many traders would come here, so from 1848-1860 the Montgomery Probate office issued at minimum 164 slave trading licenses (Lat34north). Thus, this marker serves as a remembrance for all the slave injustices.
The next site on our tour is the Legacy Museum. I think this site is very interesting due to the argument it is making and the clear bias it has. This is interesting to me because most museums are not built to model an essay. However, this museum does that by walking through a Black man’s journey from slavery, to civil rights, to the contemporary problem of “mass incarceration” of their culture. This journey is successful in showing the societal tribulations African Americans are still plagued with today, such as, mass incarceration and police brutality, while accurately proving a thesis statement that the civil rights battle is far from over. I find this extremely memorable because not many museums display this much political bias, however, since it’s privately funded, this museum was able to. I believe this museum is challenging for this very reason. It boldly engenders visitors to reflect upon African Americans’ continual struggle for equality, an issue many would instead prefer to ignore. This museum is nationally significant because it was built from years of research into the historical and contemporary injustices of the African American society, and it holds the nation’s biggest library of information on lynching (EJI). Design-wise, I am very impressed by this museum because of the location importance. The designers chose to build the museum on a former slave warehouse which immediately sets a somber tone and forces visitors to reflect.
Our 3rd site is the Freedom Rides Museum, and this site is very interesting because it is a restored bus station located where the original attack on the Freedom Riders was. The bus station has been made to look how it originally did on May 20 of 1961, the day of the attack (Civil Rights Trail). I think this can be difficult for some visitors because it forces them to face this atrocity head on, since it is the actual site. This site is nationally significant because it was restored to be in remembrance of the Freedom Rider victims and to commend their bravery (AHC). It is memorable because their is a whole, actual burned bus working as an exhibit inside the museum.
Next, our fourth site, The White House of the Confederacy, has great national significance in my opinion. It was the official headquarters of the Confederacy during the Civil War from 1861 to 1865 (NPS). This site is interesting to me because attached to it is the best museum in the US for confederate civil war memorabilia. I think it’s memorable because the confederate president, Jefferson Davis, lived here during the war. I think this site can be challenging though because of the controversy of what it symbolizes. I think it’s symbolic of the innocent confederate soldiers lives lost, however, it could seemingly look as though it is representory of the confederate views on slavery. But, I do not think this is what the site is serving as a remembrance for.
Our next site is the Confederate Memorial Monument. This site is nationally significant because it was built to remember and commemorate the “122,000 Alabamians who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War” (LOC). This site is interesting to me because multiple laws have been formed to protect it, and I think this is interesting because not many monuments are this controversial. However, this can also make visiting it challenging due to the question it begs of whether a monument for the Confederacy on public land is appropriate or not. This site is memorable to me because it is so tall, standing at 88 feet (Enclyopedia of Alabama). From, a design perspective I think they chose to make the height of this monument so great because it serves to remember the “greatness” and lives of over 100,000 soldiers. It forces visitors to look up in awe and amazement which is what the designers wanted so that those feelings of the monument would translate to the soldiers lost, achieving its goal of successfully remembering the huge or “great” extent of lives lost.
LOC.gov: Confederate Memorial Monument
Enclyopedia of Alabama: Confederate Monument on Capitol Hill
SPLCenter.org: Civil Rights Memorial Celebrates 25th anniversary
Our next site is Civil Rights Memorial. This site is interesting to me because the memorial helped to revive decades old cold cases on civil rights, and put 4 Klansmen and 8 white supremacists behind bars (SPL). This site is memorable to me because the designer, Maya Lin, left a space between the first and last entries in order to show that the fight for human rights is still not over. I think this site is challenging to viewers because it serves as a remembrance for over 40 martyrs who died because of racial injustices (SPL). The national significance of this site is to remember and honor those who gave up their lives for the civil rights battle, to appreciate the progress we made, and to cause visitors to reflect about how far we still have to go. From a design perspective this memorial is very successful in remembering and honoring the martyrs. In the middle there is a huge black granite circle with water flowing out the top and the names engraved in a chronological order, and the wall behind is black granite with a MLK quote. I think the black granite was chosen because it has to do with the skin tone of those remembered and it is a solemn color. The black circle forces the viewer’s eye down, and the names engraved on it lead to a cause and effect perception by displaying peoples actions and then the events that led to eventual freedom. This cause and effect perception creates an inspiring story that shows visitors normal people can cause big change, and the water compliments this by having a soothing, healing effect.
AtlasObscura: Civil Rights MemorialSPLCenter.org: Civil Rights Memorial Celebrates 25th anniversary
Our next site is the steps of the Alabama state capitol. This site is nationally significant because Jefferson Davis, George Wallace, and MLK have all given speeches here. Jefferson Davis gave his inaugural address speech here on February 18, 1861 (NCC). George Wallace, following in the footsteps of Davis, also gave his inaugural address here on January 14, 1963, and the main theme of his speech was that the southern states should always remain segregated (ADAH) . Martin Luther King gave his speech here at the end of Selma to Montgomery march on March 25, 1965 (AL.com). His speech, “How long, not long” had an inspiring theme about fighting for African Americans’ rights to vote.
Alabama Department of Archives and History: Inaugural Address of George Wallace AL.com: How Long, Not Long
National Constitution Center: Dueling inaugural adresses
Lat34north: The Montgomery Slave Trade Marker
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