April 13, 2024

April 13, 2024

Before leaving Tupelo, MS we drove south of town to visit Elvis Presley Birthplace Park. Despite being born in 1935, his Shotgun shack still stands in the original spot. After he became famous the city bought the property and Elvis donated money for a park around it. It is now a large tourist attraction despite his family only living here three years. His musical legacy is similar to New Orleans in that he revolutionized music by combining Blues with Country, Pop, and Gospel.

After this brief stop, we drove east towards Birmingham. We bypassed the city and continued another hour. It is a beautiful drive through rolling forested hills. We passed the Talladega Speedway just west of Anniston. Anniston is having a bike race and street fair, so the downtown streets are blocked off. It looks like a nice city. Sixty-three years ago, it wasn't so inviting. We park and walk through the festival to Freedom Riders National Monument.

Alabama was a hotbed of Jim Crow and segregation. Blacks were required to sit in the back of buses. Civil Rights activists organized resistance movements taking a bus from Washington DC through the Deep South to New Orleans in defiance of segregation laws. In Alabama these riders were met with violence. Anniston police were eager to get the trouble out of their town. Just outside city limits, the bus was stopped and firebombed. On the exterior of the old Greyhound Bus Station is a mural with lots of storyboards recalling the event.

We retrace our drive back west to Birmingham. Eerily we follow a Greyhound bus downtown. We stop at the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument. This park commemorates the events centered around the segregation epicenter of Birmingham. We start at the Civil Rights Institute. It begins with a short film that concludes with the screen rising and doors that open into the museum. The exhibits chronicle the many steps that it took to establish freedom for blacks in this state and in particular this most industrialized city of the Deep South. Unfortunately the response was particularly violent here, led by the infamous local sheriff “Bull” Connor. The museum is particularly well done. There are numerous videos of Democrats making insane comments which just reinforces some things never change.

One interesting tidbit I learned was that Republican president Warren G Harding was the first president to visit the Deep South since the Civil War. In 1921 he came to help Birmingham celebrate its 50th birthday and praise its growth. His speech concluded with advice that the city could achieve more by harnessing the industry of all their citizens black and white. A wonderful "free market capitalism" speech that fell on deaf Democrat ears just as it continues to this day.

Afterwards we walked the neighborhood. Across the street is the 16th St Baptist Church which was firebombed killing four young girls. One more reason Birmingham got the moniker of "Bombingham". Today the church is hosting a wedding.

Around the corner is the Gaston Hotel where civil rights activists often met and stayed. It was owned by a wealthy black entrepreneur who financially supported the effort. He was worried that tensions would lead to destruction of the city. His secret entreaties to his fellow white businessman may have been the nail that finally solved the desegregation problem. Money is what often talks.

We finished the day at the Birmingham Airport where we ditch the rental car. We drove too many miles on this quick tour, so we are happy to be flying back home. We had drinks and dinner in a pub. Photos of Charles Barkley grace the walls. We learn he is a favorite son of the area. The flights back are mostly uneventful though we don't get home to Tucson till after midnight.