Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham Alabama

www.bcri.org
Press Contact: Angela Fisher Hall; (205) 328-9696, ext. 211; ahall@bcri.org

Left to right: Mrs. Laura Bush, community member Shirina Davenport, President and CEO Lawrence Pijeaux, Jr., and IMLS Director Anne Radice. Click image for a larger version.

Since opening in 1992, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute has made its goal to become the nation’s premier educational center for studying the Civil Rights Movement and the global struggle for human rights.

Nearly two million visitors have touched the cell bars behind which the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. penned his ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail,’ come face-to-face with haunting life-size replicas of burned-out buses and segregated streetcars, and taken in the images and sounds of historic court battles and freedom marches.

But leaders of the Institute are not content to merely rely on imagery of the past.

Strong partnerships with area schools, libraries, and museums allow a host of programs, workshops, and special exhibitions to reach students and teachers in-person and online. The Institute created and administers the Birmingham Cultural Alliance Partnership, a national model for after-school programs that each year reaches more than 1,000 elementary- and middle-school students through hands-on academic enrichment activities.

Older visitors encounter no shortage of programs, lectures, and interactive exhibitions with focuses on every human rights battle from Jim Crow to anti-Semitism and apartheid. Community programming that reaches more than 80,000 people a year and an open-to-the-public archive that is perhaps the nation’s most comprehensive on the topic all add up to a museum very much in touch with the past it chronicles, but equally focused on building a future based on tolerance, equality, and understanding.

“I am pleased that the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is receiving this prestigious award," said U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL). "The museum reminds us of the violence and injustice that African-American citizens experienced not so long ago. It is also a reflection on the strides our country has made fighting inequality. That progress was due in large part to the sacrifices of many brave individuals. With the exhibits and educational opportunities offered by this top-notch museum, we are better able to understand the injustice that too often existed and the full extent of the opposition to change. The courage, determination, and faith of those who worked for change still inspires us. The museum stands as a commitment to progress and reconciliation.”

“The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is a world-class institution that highlights African American heritage and culture preservation,” said U.S. Senator Richard C. Shelby (R-AL). “I believe it is important that we remember and learn from our history and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is a leader in dramatically presenting the struggles to ensure equal rights for all in our country.”

“The Institute of Museum and Library Services is pleased to recognize the community achievements of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. The Institute makes positive differences in their citizens’ lives and serves as a model for the nation’s museums and libraries. I offer my heartfelt congratulations,” said Anne-Imelda Radice, PhD, Director of IMLS.

Community Member Shirina Davenport – BCRI Connection Helps Mother and Son
Shirina Davenport, a family involvement coordinator with Birmingham City Schools, helped plan, implement, and run the Birmingham Cultural Alliance Partnership (BCAP), a collaborative after-school enrichment program administered by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI). Davenport’s son, Chris, was touched by his exposure to the BCAP program and its BCRI Youth Performing Ensemble. “Chris has a speech impediment, but when he is performing, he forgets all about it, and so do I.”