[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4817 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4817

 To establish the Birmingham Civil Rights National Historical Park in 
  Birmingham, Alabama, as a unit of the National Park System, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 21, 2016

Ms. Sewell of Alabama (for herself, Mr. Byrne, Mrs. Roby, Mr. Rogers of 
     Alabama, Mr. Aderholt, Mr. Brooks of Alabama, and Mr. Palmer) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish the Birmingham Civil Rights National Historical Park in 
  Birmingham, Alabama, as a unit of the National Park System, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Birmingham Civil Rights National 
Historical Park''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Birmingham Civil Rights District is an area of 
        downtown Birmingham, Alabama, where significant events in the 
        American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s took 
        place. Many sites in this area are listed on the National 
        Register of Historic Places, including the A.G. Gaston Motel, 
        Kelley Ingram Park, 16th Street Baptist Church, Bethel Baptist 
        Church, the 4th Avenue Historic District, and the Birmingham 
        Civil Rights Institute.
            (2) In the 1960s, Birmingham was regarded as one of the 
        most segregated cities in the South. Parks, pools, playgrounds, 
        hotels, theaters, and elevators were segregated by race. 
        Discrimination extended to public housing and employment. 
        Despite some change in the early 1950s, segregation remained 
        firmly in place and violence was frequently used to maintain 
        the status quo.
            (3) From 1945 to 1963, Birmingham witnessed 60 bombings of 
        African-American homes, businesses, and churches designed to 
        intimidate Civil Rights advocates. The violence earned the City 
        the nickname ``Bombingham''. In early 1963, Alabama Governor 
        George Wallace declared, ``Segregation Now! Segregation 
        tomorrow! Segregation Forever!''.
            (4) In the spring of 1963, Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth 
        requested that the Southern Christian Leadership Conference 
        (SCLC) make the City of Birmingham the epicenter for an 
        ambitious new Civil Rights campaign. ``Project C'' (C for 
        confrontation) was designed to eliminate segregation through 
        mass protests, marches, and sit-ins. The A.G. Gaston Motel 
        served as headquarters for Project C, and was home base for 
        much of the SCLC leadership including Dr. King.
            (5) The A.G. Gaston Motel opened in 1954 and was regarded 
        as a ``historic monument to black entrepreneurship'' in a time 
        of racial segregation. The Motel was built and owned by Arthur 
        George Gaston (1892-1996), a prominent African-American 
        businessman, and is listed on the National Register of Historic 
        Places.
            (6) The Project C campaign began on April 6, 1963, when 
        police arrested 45 protestors who marched from the A.G. Gaston 
        Motel to downtown Birmingham. One week later, during the Good 
        Friday march, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was arrested and 
        jailed by Birmingham police. While in prison, Dr. King wrote 
        his famous ``Letter from a Birmingham Jail''. He wrote the 
        letter as a response to the ``Call to Unity'' statement from 
        eight White Alabama clergymen who opposed segregation. They 
        believed that the battle for equality should be fought in the 
        courts, not by outsiders trying to stir up civil unrest. As a 
        response, Dr. King wrote ``I am in Birmingham because injustice 
        is here.''.
            (7) Phase two of Project C began in May of 1963 with a 
        series of mass protests in which children played a leading 
        role. On May 2, 1963, over 900 children were arrested by 
        police, overwhelming the capacity of the City's jails. In 
        response, Birmingham Commissioner of Public Safety Bull Connor 
        ordered firefighters and police to prevent new waves of 
        marchers from leaving Kelly Ingram Park.
            (8) On May 3, 1963, youth protestors in Kelly Ingram Park 
        were violently dispersed by police dogs and powerful water 
        cannons. Images of the brutal police response to peaceful 
        protestors spread across the country, shocking the conscience 
        of the Nation and the world.
            (9) Fearing civil unrest and unrepairable damage to the 
        City's reputation, the Birmingham business community and local 
        leaders agreed to release the peaceful protestors, integrate 
        lunch counters, and begin to hire African-Americans. On May 10, 
        1963, the A.G. Gaston Motel served as the site to announce this 
        compromise between local White leaders and civil rights 
        advocates. The Motel was bombed later that day.
            (10) Amid continued racial tensions, on September 15, 1963, 
        a bomb detonated at the 16th Street Baptist Church as children 
        were entering the basement on their way to worship. Addie Mae 
        Collins, Carole Robinson, and Cynthia Wesley, who were all 14, 
        and Denise McNair, 11, were tragically killed. The explosion 
        injured 22 others and left significant damage to the church. 
        Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., travelled to Birmingham to deliver 
        the eulogy for the four little girls. This act of domestic 
        terrorism shocked the conscience of the Nation and the world, 
        and became a galvanizing force for the passage of historic 
        Civil Rights Act of 1964.
            (11) Located just south of 16th Street Baptist Church is 
        the 4th Avenue Historic District. The district was the center 
        for Black-owned businesses, which served Black customers during 
        the City's long period of enforced segregation. Specifically, 
        the district was the home of one of the most well-known 
        African-American owned radio stations in the state. Black radio 
        stations and disc jockeys played a critical role in mobilizing 
        support for the civil rights movement. DJs sent coded messages 
        as to the whereabouts of police, roadblock locations, and rally 
        information.
            (12) Also located in Birmingham is Bethel Baptist Church. 
        Led by Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, this church served as the 
        headquarters for the Alabama Christian Movement for Human 
        Rights from 1956 to 1961. It was also a place of refuge for 
        displaced and injured members of the 1961 Freedom Ride, and was 
        the target of multiple bombings in the 1950s and 1960s. 
        Reverend Shuttlesworth's church, as well as many other 
        Birmingham Churches such as the New Pilgrim Baptist Church, 
        hosted mass meetings leading up to many of the civil rights 
        marches throughout the City. The students and faculty of Miles 
        College, a Historically Black College in the Birmingham area, 
        supplemented the efforts of the local churches. Miles College 
        was one of the few institutions of higher education open to 
        African-Americans in the area, and produced many community 
        leaders.
            (13) In 1992, decades after the Civil Rights Movement, the 
        Birmingham Civil Rights Institute opened its doors. The 
        Institute stands at the center of the Birmingham Civil Rights 
        District, acting as a hub for children, students, adults, and 
        scholars who come to learn about the American Civil Rights 
        Movement. The 27,000-square-foot permanent gallery within the 
        Institute was designed to bring visitors back to the 1950s when 
        Birmingham was deeply segregated. The Institute serves more 
        than 140,000 individuals each year, and encourages new 
        generations to examine our country's civil rights history, as 
        well as issues such as equality and justice.
            (14) The preservation, historic interpretation, and 
        management of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Historical 
        Park's important historical resources require the collaboration 
        of Federal and municipal entities, as well as community 
        organizations.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BIRMINGHAM CIVIL RIGHTS NATIONAL 
              HISTORICAL PARK IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.

    (a) Establishment and Purpose.--There is hereby established 
Birmingham Civil Rights National Historical Park in Birmingham, 
Alabama, for the purposes of--
            (1) preserving and interpreting for the benefit of present 
        and future generations the significant civil rights history in 
        the Birmingham Civil Rights National Historical Park;
            (2) coordinating preservation, catalyzing economic 
        revitalization, and facilitating interpretive efforts by 
        Federal, State, or local governmental entities, and/or private 
        and nonprofit organizations; and
            (3) creating appropriate collaborative management to ensure 
        the preservation and interpretation of the park's historical 
        significance.
    (b) Boundaries.--The Park shall consist of those lands and 
interests in lands, including buildings, within the areas generally 
depicted as ``Bethel Baptist Church'' and ``Birmingham Civil Rights 
Historic District'' on the map entitled ``Civil Rights District'' and 
dated March 2, 2016.
    (c) Acquisition of Land.--The Secretary may acquire additional 
buildings, assets, and lands and interests in lands for addition to the 
park by donation, transfer, or exchange only. At no time shall the park 
consist of more than 11 acres.

SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall administer the Park in 
accordance with this Act and laws generally applicable to units of the 
National Park System. Nothing in this Act shall modify any authority of 
the United States to carry out Federal laws on Federal land located 
within the Park.
    (b) Cooperative Agreement.--The Secretary may enter into 
cooperative agreements with Federal, State, City, or other public and 
non-profit institutions under which the Secretary may identify, 
interpret, and provide assistance for the preservation of non-Federal 
properties within the Park and at sites in close proximity to the Park, 
including providing for placement of directional and interpretive 
signage, exhibits, and technology-based interpretive devices.
    (c) Management Plan.--Not later than 3 fiscal years after the date 
on which funds are first made available to carry out this Act, the 
Secretary, in consultation with the City, shall complete a general 
management plan for the Park in accordance with applicable laws, 
including section 100502 of title 54, United States Code.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act:
            (1) City.--The term ``City'' means the city of Birmingham, 
        Alabama.
            (2) Park.--The term ``Park'' means the Birmingham Civil 
        Rights National Historical Park.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
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