Bethel Baptist Church (Birmingham, Alabama)

Bethel Baptist Church, Parsonage, and Guardhouse

Bethel Baptist Church in 1993
Location 3233, 3232 and 3236 29th Avenue North, Collegeville, Alabama
Coordinates 33°33′06.5″N 86°48′07.3″W / 33.551806°N 86.802028°W / 33.551806; -86.802028Coordinates: 33°33′06.5″N 86°48′07.3″W / 33.551806°N 86.802028°W / 33.551806; -86.802028
Architectural style Modern Movement
NRHP Reference # 05000455
Significant dates
Added to NRHP April 5, 2005[1]
Designated NHL April 05, 2005[2]
Designated ARLH November 13, 1996[3]

Bethel Baptist Church in the Collegeville neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama served as headquarters from 1956 to 1961 for the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR), which was led by Fred Shuttlesworth and active in the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement. The ACMHR focused on legal and nonviolent direct action against segregated accommodations, transportation, schools and employment discrimination. It played a crucial role in the 1961 Freedom Ride that resulted in federal enforcement of U.S. Supreme Court and Interstate Commerce Commission rulings to desegregate public transportation.[2]

Fred Shuttlesworth served as pastor from 1953 to 1961. The church buildings were bombed on three separate occasions, first on December 25, 1956, again on June 29, 1958,[4] and lastly on December 14, 1962.[5][6][7]

The church complex was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on November 13, 1996.[3] It was then added to the National Register of Historic Places and declared a National Historic Landmark on April 5, 2005.[2][1][8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (July 9, 2010). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 "Bethel Baptist Church, Parsonage, and Guard House". National Historic Landmarks Program. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2008-04-03. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
  3. 1 2 "Properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks & Heritage". Alabama Historical Commission. www.preserveala.org. Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  4. ↑ In 1980 J. B. Stoner was convicted in connection with this bombing.
  5. ↑ "Bombing in Alabama Injures 5, Wrecks Minister's Home". New York Times. December 26, 1956. p. 1.
  6. ↑ "Bomb Attempt Fails; Volunteer Removes Dynamite From Birmingham Church". New York Times. June 30, 1958.
  7. ↑ Sitton, Claude (September 15, 1962). "Negroes Ask U.S. to Act in Third Bombing of Church". New York Times.
  8. ↑ "Bethel Baptist Church, Parsonage, and Guardhouse" (PDF). National Historic Landmark Nomination. National Park Service.

External links


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