FAQ
What Organizations make up the Jefferson County Memorial Project?
- Abroms-Engel Institute for Visual Arts
- Alabama Dance Council
- Alabama Faith in Action
- Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation
- ARC Outreach Center, Bessemer
- Birmingham AIDS Outreach
- Birmingham City Schools
- Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
- Birmingham Holocaust Education Center
- Birmingham Islamic Community
- Birmingham Jewish Federation
- Birmingham Museum of Art
- Birmingham-Southern College
- Breakthrough Birmingham
- City of Bessemer (Mayor’s Office)
- City of Birmingham (Mayor’s Office)
- Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham
- Create Birmingham
- Desert Island Supply Co.
- Greater Birmingham Arts Education Collaborative
- Greater Birmingham Ministries
- Foundation for Arts and Cultural Connections
- Highlands United Methodist Church
- Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama
- HIVE Alabama
- Jefferson County Commission
- Jefferson State Community College
- Kids in Birmingham, 1963
- Lawson State Community College
- Magic City Acceptance Center
- Magic City Bar Association
- Miles College
- Mission Impossible Inc.
- No More Martyrs
- Offender Alumni Association
- Red Mountain Theatre Company
- Rotaract
- The Regenerative Society
- Samford University
- Studio 2500
- Space One Eleven
- The Altamont School
- The Listening Project
- University of Alabama, Birmingham
- Urban Impact
- White Birminghamians for Black Lives
- YWCA Central Alabama
How is the lynching monument connected to the Confederate Monument in Linn Park?
We recognize that the retrieval of the Jefferson County historical monument and lynching marker intersects with multiple Birmingham City Initiatives, i.e. the Civil Rights District, the Alabama bicentennial and the Confederate monument, however this initiative is independent of these yet complements them.
How are you choosing to discuss such a difficult, painful, and deeply personal topic?
We recognize that the retrieval of the monument and lynching marker will surface different types of pain. The pain of highlighting the act of the lynching; the pain of the victims and their families; and the pain of blame of living descendants of those that participated in these horrific acts. We are being intentional about providing resources to address trauma and creating calm spaces at events. Please see our mental health resource page for more information.
When would the monument come to Jefferson County?
EJI has not yet released information on a timeline for retrieval. However, we are hopeful the monument will arrive in Spring or Early Summer 2019.
Has the Coalition considered Kelly Ingram Park?
Located in the heart of the Birmingham Civil Rights District, adjacent to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and 16th Street Baptist Church, Kelly Ingram Park is strongly associated the history of the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham, particularly the events of May 1963, when Public Safety Commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor ordered local authorities to subdue peaceful protestors—most of them children and teenagers—with fire hoses, police dogs, and mass arrests. These events sparked a national outcry, and proved to be a turning point in the struggle for racial equality.
As the location of these pivotal events, Kelly Ingram Park is home to many monuments that commemorative the struggles of the Civil Rights Movement and its leaders and foot soldiers. It is impossible to separate the legacy of lynching from the Civil Rights Movement, since the systematic terrorization and murder of blacks, particularly the 1955 lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till, helped galvanize the activists and spur them to action. However, given its deep connection to the events of 1963, Kelly Ingram Park functions as historically specific “sacred ground,” and should be preserved as a site for the commemoration and interpretation of that moment in the Civil Rights Movement.
How about Railroad Park?
Hailed as “Birmingham’s living room,” Railroad Park has become a highly successful venue for recreation of all sorts. As a place focused on providing leisure opportunities for the community, it does not seem to provide a fitting environment for serious reflection upon and remembrance of the victims of one of the most tragic periods in the history of Jefferson County.
Doesn’t Linn Park have enough monuments already?
Adjacent to the seats of city and county government, Linn Park has a long tradition as place of remembrance for the events and people that have impacted our community. This tradition, as well as the prominence of the location, makes it a fitting place to publicly remember the citizens of Jefferson County who lost their lives to racial terror, so that we begin to heal the deep wounds inflicted by the painful legacy of lynching.
