Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Birmingham (1993) - James was the
project leader of the recording team which documented this national
monument of the Civil Rights Movement. Daina was a member of this HABS
recording team during her internship with US/ICOMOS. The Sixteenth Street
Baptist Church has served as the religious and cultural center of the
African-American community in Birmingham since the Romanesque church
was built in 1910. The architect, Wallace Rayfield, was the first
African-American to establish a practice in Birmingham. He was a graduate
of Howard University and Pratt Institute. The church is located near the former
center of the African-American business community, across from the
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Many distinguished Americans such as
Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson and W.E.B. DuBois were heard at this
church. But, it was the unfortunate events of 1963 which cemented its place
in history when four black girls were killed by a bomb exploded by white
supremacists. The citizens of Wales, Great Britain, donated the new stained
glass window over the entry in memory of this tragic event. The church had
become a focal point of the Civil Rights movement with the Reverends Fred
Shuttlesworth and Martin Luther King, Jr. having spoke there. The project
was coordinated by the Birmingham Historical Society and the congregation
led by Reverend Christopher Hamlin. The drawings and photographs served
as the base for the ongoing restoration efforts at the church and are also part
of the permanent HABS collection.
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project leader of the recording team which documented this national
monument of the Civil Rights Movement. Daina was a member of this HABS
recording team during her internship with US/ICOMOS. The Sixteenth Street
Baptist Church has served as the religious and cultural center of the
African-American community in Birmingham since the Romanesque church
was built in 1910. The architect, Wallace Rayfield, was the first
African-American to establish a practice in Birmingham. He was a graduate
of Howard University and Pratt Institute. The church is located near the former
center of the African-American business community, across from the
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Many distinguished Americans such as
Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson and W.E.B. DuBois were heard at this
church. But, it was the unfortunate events of 1963 which cemented its place
in history when four black girls were killed by a bomb exploded by white
supremacists. The citizens of Wales, Great Britain, donated the new stained
glass window over the entry in memory of this tragic event. The church had
become a focal point of the Civil Rights movement with the Reverends Fred
Shuttlesworth and Martin Luther King, Jr. having spoke there. The project
was coordinated by the Birmingham Historical Society and the congregation
led by Reverend Christopher Hamlin. The drawings and photographs served
as the base for the ongoing restoration efforts at the church and are also part
of the permanent HABS collection.
Return to main page Return to Projects Page
Photographs by Jet Lowe (HABS)
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
Birmingham, Alabama
Side Elevation of the Church hand drawn by Daina Ferguson (HABS-1993)