Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

If you are anywhere near Birmingham, Alabama, don’t miss this gem of a museum that brings civil rights history alive in a meaningful way with many specific artifacts from the very real struggle that took place in the 60’s. While it doesn’t encompass the entire struggle the way the Memphis, Tenn. museum does, it is still worth visiting.
Unfortunately, the city surrounding it is boring and not worth walking around.

Beautiful and informative museum! It’s right next to the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, known for the bombing that killed the four little girls in the 60s. All the employees I encountered were not only friendly and helpful, but seemed genuinely happy to be there and interested in the museum itself. The exhibit starts in a unique way with a short film projected on the wall that opens up once the film is over to reveal the beginning of the exhibit. Museum thoroughly covered all aspects of not only the civil rights movement, but also the history of Birmingham itself. Must see if you are in Birmingham. Sunday is donations/​pay what you want day. From what I understand the church is sometimes open but since I went on a Sunday it wasn’t open to the public since they were having services.

Wow! Such an amazing museum. A must see if you are in the area. So much civil rights history presented in unique and powerful ways– from replicas of segregation (schools, water fountains,) to a replica of the freedom rider bus that was bombed to informative television and newspaper clips. The museum really brought the history alive We were thoroughly impressed.

I love history and I love a good experience. This place is of course filled with it! I went with a large group of 40+ and they were great with giving us the lay of the land and then sending us off on our own for a self guided tour. There is so much info that there is no way I could take it all in on the first visit but it was very informative and emotional. After the tour we sat down with one of the museum officials (I hate that I forget his name) but he lead a very interesting discussion on race. I love that my colleagues engaged and I learned even more during that time. I will be back to take in more information and things I missed the first go round, I also recommend it to all that wants to learn more about the civil rights movement.

My husband and I spent 2 ½ hours at the Civil Rights Institute before we realized it was time to pick up the kids from school. I expected to be in and out rather quickly but this museum is jam packed full of interesting things to see and read. We probably could have spent at least another hour looking at the galleries in the back.
This is a great museum for older kids who read. There was a school group of teens who looked like they were having fun. This museum warrants a second visit in my opinion.

DO NOT MISS THIS MUSEUM ON YOUR VISIT TO BIRMINGHAM!
We were in town visiting my boyfriend’s brother who just moved to Birmingham six months ago. He hadn’t been to the Civil Rights Institute yet, and I really wanted to visit it while we were in town!
This museum is amazing. It’s really interactive — the school group of kids that was in the museum with us seemed really engaged. It was moving and educational and a really interesting museum. All three of us really enjoyed our time at the museum — even my boyfriend who usually has an hour limit at any kind of museum.
Definitely an important and very worthwhile museum. Don’t miss it.

Birmingham sure has seen a lot and come a long way. It takes my breathe away seeing and knowing the streets this all happened on. Today I am grateful for my life and the fact that I know and respect so many great people with different backgrounds. The first time I went here was in 2000 on MLK Day. The marching bands and museum and sense of community brought tears to my eyes is something I will never forget.

I went here last year and I’ve gotta admit — this is one of the most beautiful museum campuses and well curated museums in the south. Rather than bore you to death, they surround you with sounds and sights both moving and static of the era. For the few hours it takes to take this place in fully, you can’t help but get lost in the era. Especially given the tough situation of race relations in America, this place provides the necessary understanding to navigate the difficult waters ahead and give more respect to prominent black leaders than sharing a poorly-​aimed MLK quote on Facebook.
Seriously, I appreciate this place’s existence greatly. It’s good for humanity. Let’s just hope they continue to thrive.

A must stop for every human who comes through Birmingham. We did it an hour because we got there so late but you really need 2 – 3 hours to really take it in. Super friendly staff in a beautiful setting. Make time for a walk around the neighborhood, 16^th Street Church and the Ingram Park.

Usually museums aren’t my sort of thing – I almost never enjoy them. This one is an exception. It is well worth the money to go through, as the material it has is vast, varied, and fascinating.

A great museum with a wonderful layout. We went on Sunday and the admission was any donation you wished to give. The museum starts with a very informative video on the history of Birmingham and the civil rights struggle. It is a very linear layout, which I liked. Sometimes museum layouts can be a bit juggled.

Birmingham has such a complicated history, and what happened here is both tragic and an important catalyst for change — that’s a difficult balance to communicate, but the Civil Rights Institute does an excellent job.
The exhibits here are well researched and well done. The history is presented clearly and is not at all emotionally manipulative — I do think visiting this museum is an emotional experience, especially because it’s located right in the midst of where the events occurred, but the museum lets the facts speak for themselves instead of trying to interpret them to support a particular agenda.
There’s a lot to explore in the museum, and there’s a lot to read, so I’d schedule at least a couple of hours for a visit. A few commenters before mentioned that it’s very difficult to read some of the newspapers and especially watch news footage from the Civil Rights era because of some of the horrible things that people say without shame, and I agree. Most of us are at least vaguely familiar with this kind of hate and racism, but it’s different to see it talked about so unabashedly. I also think it’s important to see that and to understand what so many people fought to overcome (and to recognize modern racism even though it might be veiled a little bit more).
The museum also includes a lot about modern efforts in the Civil Rights movement and usually has some art elements that explore the subject of race and freedom at the end of the tour. It’s a smart and hopeful way to end a visit to the museum, and it challenges each of us to ask how we can help and to recognize that there’s still much to be done in the fight for equality and civil rights for all Americans.

This museum was one of the things we absolutely wanted to do on our quick vacation to Birmingham but I will admit it feels odd rating something like this. Obviously, no one can possibly rate the content and history presented here. I had just finished watching quite a bit of coverage of Civil Rights history including the Freedom Summer and Freedom Riders documentaries. This is such an important and dark period of American history and so important for every American to learn about. So on content and the intent of this museum to educate and help visitors form a deep and personal connection to the importance and reality of the Civil Rights struggle — 20 stars out of 5 or maybe 20 million or more.
However, my five star review is really about the technical elements of this museum. I don’t often think about the flow, layout, and staging of exhibits, but the Civil Rights Institute does such an outstanding job of using the space itself, the flow of visitors through the space and the design of the exhibits to really add to the story being told. This was less a museum than a full sensory experience. Our journey began being shooed toward the theater along with others who entered with us. We entered the darkened theater area and watched a movie about the development of Birmingham and the surrounding areas including the unequal distribution of prosperity to blacks and whites. As the film ended, the screen split and revealed the first room of the museum.
Each room is designed to have numerous nooks and crannies packed with information, but the way the space is divided into small, intimate spaces makes the information not too overwhelming. For example, this first room/​area is about segregated Birmingham and includes two small classroom spaces showing a typical white classroom next to a typical black classroom. It also has a small church space with photos and information about black churches in the area in the early 20^th century and where traditional hymns are playing softly. Along one wall, photos of various neighborhoods, black social societies, and clubs give a sense of what life within the black community. There was also a small «theater» space, designed like the front of an old-​style theater with a small interactive screen that played video/​sound snippets of songs by various folks from Cab Calloway to Duke Ellington.
This layout was amazing as was the decision to let people of that time and place speak for themselves. As you move deeper into the museum, the exhibits start to give a sense of some of the prevailing attitudes in the south. It is one thing to read racially charged words; but it is quite a different thing to hear and see people saying these things. The displays are powerful and really moving. In the area about the bombing of the 16^th Street Baptist church, it hit me like a punch in the gut that you can look out the window and see the church today — right there, across the street. The exhibit ended in a collection of issues from today concerning civil and human rights. I really appreciated this tie-​in to the ongoing work of social justice and human rights. Overall, this was an amazing and moving experience and my congratulations go out to American History Workshop, which another reviewer indicated designed and conceptualized these displays and layouts.

I’m still thinking about this museum weeks later. Powerful is an understatement. The visual storytelling is beyond anything that I’ve seen in a museum.
For example — they had two Birmingham classrooms side-​by-​side so you could visually see the difference between white vs. black educational spend. Stating facts is important but showing it makes a powerful statement. Another Unilocaler — Jessica — posted terrific photos; like this one of the classrooms;
Several things stood out to me:
1) The Confrontation Gallery — You enter a darkened room. An audio track is playing with actors reading actual quotes from newspapers and interviews with Birmingham residents. It was hard to listen to this ignorance. Life size images of people are placed higher than you feel like you’re being talked down to. At the end of the gallery is a KKK robe and a partially-​burned cross that was former FBI evidence.
2) Near the end of the museum, there is a display of items taken from the body of 11-​year old Denise McNair during the autopsy. She died in the 16^th Street Church bombing. On display are her little Buster Brown shoes, her purse with a pen, a little silver bracelet, a silver cross necklace and a piece of brick that had been embedded in her skull.
This was the only museum where, after leaving, I actually Googled to see who designed such impactful displays — it was American History Workshop.
They offer AAA discounts and senior discounts. We happened upon a free day Sunday when it was donation only. Go in early October to enjoy a crowd-​free experience.
If you’re not able to go, do yourself a favor and watch this C-​SPAN video:

This is a really well done museum. Very interesting, informative and thorough. They also have a AAA discount.
The museum is across the street from Kelly Ingram Park and across the intersection from the 16^th Street Baptist Church, which made it perfect to jam pack a weekend and see as much American History as possible.
Leave a lot of time to see everything. We spent a good two hours and could have spent more if we read every timeline or stopped to watch every movie.

I love learning about the Civil Rights movement and visit anything I can find wherever I go in my travels. This institute is one of the best! There is A LOT of history, a well-​organized timeline of events, there are things that pull at your heartstrings and pictures that open your eyes. The museum also documents things from around the country, not just Birmingham, which I found very helpful. It just tied it all together. I’m very glad I went I love how close it is to Kelly Ingram Park and the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, as well as the Historic 4^th Ave. It’s big so wear comfortable shoes and have plenty of time so you can read and watch videos. There is a lot of reading and pictures and movies (in fact, that’s mostly what it is) but it really adds to the experience. I’ve seen a lot of Civil Rights things and there were a lot of pictures and excerpts I haven’t seen before and many things I learned about the struggles of the black community.
Two things, however, drove me insane. I went on Sunday because admission is free and yes it’s my fault, I should have forked over the $ 14 or so dollars to get in because I was there on field trip day. Usually this wouldn’t bother me but it’s not very roomy in this place so I was basically swarmed by hundreds of loud, annoying kids who were completing some kind of damn ‘treasure’ hunt. They had no respect for the other people and could care less about what they were hunting for. There were event parents around and they didn’t hush the kids, some were even doing the same, running around looking for answers so they could be done. When I visit places like this I want it to be quiet and somber so I can really FEEL the things I’ve missed. SO, if you plan to go on a Sunday, just keep in mind there might be hundreds of little rug rats running around. The other thing that drove me bonkers was that we couldn’t take pictures. I’m a photographer and this is one of my favorite subjects so it’s hard for me to not to be able to take pictures to remember, reminisce and share with my family who won’t have the opportunity to go here. Plus, I find it my mission to educate those who don’t or didn’t get the opportunity to learn about this (like the small town rednecks I grew up around).
Regardless of these two things, it is definitely worth the visit. I was able to snag a few photos here and there (definitely got busted) and I found a few online. After visiting the museum, be sure to check out the neighboring sites to really take in the African American history. I added what pictures I could take/​gather and also some of neighboring Kelly Ingram Park, Sixteenth Street Church and 4^th Ave.

I definitely will return! I am so glad I added this to my itinerary during my visit to Birmingham. I learned quite a bit. Very detailed, thorough and educational. Lots of statues, video and audio recordings and many scene displays to recreate a setting. Located next to the historical Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. I highly recommend!
FYI: On Sundays, the cost of admission for individuals and small groups less than 5 is donation only.

I just came from this place with dry and stiff eyes. You know how your are after you have shed some tears? It’s so well put together and informative that it evokes all the human compassion you have in you. It makes you look inward and ask yourself, «what would I have done?»
Extremely educational and well worth the price of admission. If you are ever in Birmingham please stop by and take in some American history.

We visited the museum yesterday afternoon and it was really worthwhile. I’m old enough to remember some of what occurred in the era depicted at the museum, and I had a «front-​row» seat to some of it while growing up in D.C. & via peripheral involvement by a few family members. However; I still learned a lot from our visit, and particularly concerning the events in Birmingham. The one thing that disappointed me is that photo-​taking isn’t permitted. The museum has many beautiful statues of important figures from the era and I would have loved to have taken photos.
As an aside, we had a rather fascinating experience there. The prosecutor who handled the infamous court case against the men who killed the four girls at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was giving a private tour for out-​of-​town friends plus a rather well-​known t.v. sports broadcaster (who’s even more handsome in person than on t.v., but I digress). We listened in as the prosecutor described many events — and needless to say, it was a special and informative experience.
Note that AAA members receive a 25% discount on the admission cost.

I had an awesome, emotional experience in this museum. From the outside, it seemed small. I expected the tour to last an hour at the most. Boy was I fooled. I arrived at opening and there was a fast talking security guard who provided some good information on the board of directors and their accomplishments. After wards he took us to the film room.
We were seated for an 8 minute film about the beginning of Birmingham and slavery then voilà! The film screen rose to show the first exhibit. Pretty cool. I will not go into details of the exhibits, it’s something you have to see for yourself when you’re in Birmingham. I will say I shed a tear or two as I walked through a time warp showing the struggles and achievements of the civil rights movement. I loved how in the end, the museum pose the question ‘What are you fighting for?’ Whether its world peace, hunger, death penalty, corrupt leaders etc. I left with the message that we can all make a change no matter who we are and where we are from. Very inspirational.
Oh a few tips, AAA price is $ 9, NO CELL phones and no food of course. This is a self pace museum but IMO to fully get the whole experience you need 2 hours.