Each year, more than 100,000 visitors from around the world visit the Birmingham Civil Rights District, designated a National Monument.
Published: May 13, 2023
Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau launched the 60 years of the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement Commemoration with their custom-designed, Birmingham Civil Rights-branded motorcoach that will soon be traveling nationwide, encouraging people to visit Birmingham.
Alabama Tourism Department attended the unveiling of the new bus in April at Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church. The unveiling ceremony launched a campaign honoring the events of 1963, when a cultural revolution took place in Birmingham, Alabama, and changed the world. The events that changed the status of race relations in the United States in 1963 include: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (April 1963), the Children’s Crusade (May 1963), and the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church that killed four little girls (September 1963).
“Visitors from all over the globe travel to Birmingham to learn and reflect on what happened here in 1963,” says John Oros, president & CEO of the Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Today, and every day, we must continue to remember those who participated in changing our history, and honor how they changed the lives of so many future generations by giving them the priceless gift of hope. This campaign is an opportunity to share that message across the country.”
The 45-foot, 56-passenger motorcoach will transport tour groups around the country through the end of the year, serving as a nationwide commemoration of the 1963 events and encouraging people to visit the historical city of Birmingham, Alabama.
The new motorcoach is part of a larger campaign by the Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau to honor the history, progress and impact of the events of 1963 and the Civil Rights Movement. The campaign will run through the year, encouraging visitors from around the world to travel to Birmingham, to experience the city’s civil rights history. In addition to the bus, campaign initiatives include a microsite (https://60.birminghamal.org/), custom civil rights-themed visitor itineraries, special events with community partners, and more.
Each year, more than 100,000 visitors from around the world visit the Birmingham Civil Rights District, designated a National Monument by President Barack Obama. The District’s key landmarks, which tell the stories of the city’s pivotal role in desegregating the American South, are part of the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, created by Lee Sentell, director of the Alabama Tourism Department. The Birmingham section of the Alabama Civil Rights Trail includes the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, 16th Street Baptist Church, Kelly Ingram Park, A.G. Gaston Motel, Historic Bethel Baptist Church, and the Fourth Avenue Historic District.