Birmingham Traveling Civil Rights Exhibit Debuts at the Apollo

Birmingham Traveling Civil Rights Exhibit Debuts at the Apollo

Mayor William Bell and the City of Birmingham get ready to open the 2013 Civil Rights Traveling Exhibit, Birmingham: The Movement that Changed the World, in New York City at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem.

“We are excited to continue sharing Birmingham’s story around the world. This stop on the exhibit tour is especially significant because it represents the opportunity to share our story to a new audience that may not realize that without the events in Birmingham, there would not have been the outcry to end segregation.” said Mayor Bell.

The Exhibit has been on display at The King Center in Atlanta, the Capital Building in Washington D.C.; at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL; New Orleans, LA; Memphis, TN; Columbia, SC and Jackson, MS. The exhibit made its way back to Birmingham in September in commemoration of the 50^th anniversary of the bombing of 16^th Street Baptist Church at the City’s highly successful Empowerment Week events.  

“I want to thank The Apollo Theater for opening its doors to us and for continuing to embrace Dr. King’s philosophy and strategy of nonviolence to eliminate racism. This is just the beginning of our City embracing our past to build our future. We are excited to share the history and show that Birmingham is 50 years forward,” said Mayor Bell.

School children from Bronx Community School 61 will be in attendance for the opening after hearing from Mayor Bell earlier in the day speak on the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham and sharing a chapter of the book, The Watsons Go to Birmingham.

The exhibit will open on Monday, November 25^th at 7:00 p.m. with a special screening of the Hallmark Channel’s The Watsons Go to Birmingham movie. The event is free and open to the public. Walden Media, Wal-Mart and Proctor and Gamble will provide free copies of the DVD to the first 100 people that arrive. Following the film will be a brief question and answer session with screenwriter and filmmaker, Tonya Lee. The film tells the story of a family from Flint, Michigan that travel to Birmingham, Alabama for a family visit during the summer of 1963 and how the tragic bombing of 16^th Street Baptist church and death of the 4 little girls impacted their lives.

Apollo Theater History

The neo-classical theater known today as the Apollo Theater was designed by George Keister and first owned by Sidney Cohen. In 1914, Benjamin Hurtig and Harry Seamon obtained a thirty-year lease on the newly constructed theater calling it Hurtig and Seamon’s New Burlesque Theater. Like many American theaters during this time, African-Americans were not allowed to attend as patrons or to perform. Today, the theater hosts many events throughout the year but is most famous for its amateur night performances and the legendary acts that have graced its stage.

This is one of many ways the City is celebrating the 50^th anniversary of civil rights era in the City of Birmingham.  For more information, visit http://www.50yearsforward.com.