Transcripts For CSPAN3 Birmingham Civil Rights National Monu

Thank you for joining us this late on a saturday afternoon. Of the executive director us icomos. Panel, us today on the we will be doing brief introductions. Glenn eskew from Georgia State university who is coordinating the civil rights World Heritage nomination. Rant leggs brent leggs. , and patricia sullivan. First, a little bit about us icomos and why i am listed as session, glennis eskew is the architect of this session. I am here to provide context for the significance of the investments of Energy Taking place. Dates back to 1965. We are one of the 110 or so National Committees of the International Committee of sites. Ts and it is most notable for being the scientificthe u. N. And cultural committee. Im sure you are all roughly familiar with the u. S. Heritage list. Cultural sites, as opposed to national sites, comprise more than 70 of the more than 1000 sites on the World Heritage list. 23 of those are in the u. S. The vast majority of our National Heritage sitess. Stephen morris will talk more about the engagement in me program. There is tremendous opportunity for sites of outstanding listed, toalue to be be recognized in the World Heritage list. Case in point today. It is ironic, because it is the same impulses in the mid1960s that led to the creation of us icomos, that led to the creation of icomos, that led to act. National preservation the same individuals in many cases that can be traced to the of the bedrock programs in the states as well as globally. Membershipbased nonprofit in washington. We would like to share the best preservation Heritage Preservation practices with a here to u. S. Ce conservation practitioners. The civil rights sites u. S. Heritage nomination and the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument are really extraordinarily exciting developments, strongly supported by us icomos. We all know, this is why you are here, and incredibly important u. S. Story and World Heritage as well. Possessing, again, outstanding universal value in a term of art in the World Heritage program. I want to point out as part of the 50th anniversary celebration , we participated with friends and colleagues with the National Park service to produce the u. S. World heritage gap study report to get to the business of moving the needle on the 23 currently listed World Heritage nominations. Right at the top of the list is this particular nomination. Lastly, i would like to say in the last quarter of this year, i am back from travels in africa and india. A longs. Story casts shadow around the globe and can be traced directly to inspirational heritage stories which are being interpreted both in south africa with the story of Nelson Mandela as well as in the story of Mahatma Gandhi and the liberation of india can be directly traced. Hard at all intellectually to create the case for the outstanding universal value of these stories that we will hear more about. Certain irony in the u. S. Announcing the withdrawal that would take place at the end of this year. Us icomos is working to mitigate and reduce the affects of on ouroposed withdrawal engagement in the u. S. Heritage program. We are very optimistic about that. These efforts, coordinated by glenn, are complex but essential to elevating this nations contributions to our shared global heritage. I would like to introduce glenn. Thank you, very much. Shut the door. At the end of my remarks i would like to share a handout that explains in detail the effort creating the nomination of u. S. Civil rights sites. Before i make remarks on the locations of associated with the Civil Rights Movement in birmingham and elsewhere, i would like to thank my colleagues for agreeing to be on the panel. Hang on. It was working before. As the director of the Georgia State university initiative, i head up scholars and his story preservationists developing a the World Heritage committee. They call to update the tentative list, besides being considered for nomination, the first step to being inscribed on the list. The office of International Affairs for the National Park Service Wanted to fit the global strategy. 2000 seven 2 independent efforts in alabama responded by preparing materials for preservation. The dossier on dexter avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in montgomery, while director Marjorie White compound dossiers baptist6th Street Church in bethel Baptist Church in birmingham. Since the late 1980s i have been publishing on the civil rights struggle. I joined marjorie to secure National Historic landmarks for the 16th street that just churches. When she turned her attention to the World Heritage list in 2007 i was brought along as a consultant. Was the beginning of a serial nomination for u. S. Civil rights sites and in 2008 added them to the list for the World Heritage committee. Then the efforts stalled until late 2016 when alabama contracted with Georgia State university to launch the World Heritage initiative to develop the serial nomination of u. S. Civil rights sites. Task. A daunting more than 70 scholars for the modern Civil Rights Movement have been consulted, along with preservation is southern states. Last april we gathered them at us and posey and held on the Georgia State University Campus in atlanta. Held on theosium Georgia State University Campus in atlanta. Considered discrimination in general, or specifically around the historical discrimination against african americans. Peerage. Movementcivil rights lacks a clear chronology, while others recognize the 1950s and 1960s as a modern Civil Rights Movement. We focused on the struggle to overturn racial segregation and secondclass citizenship in the areas targeted by the modern africanamerican freedom struggle. Cited threehat we studies conducted by the National Park service. Civil rights in america, education,on in desegregation in accommodation and Voting Rights. We considered the 2008 civil rights in america a framework for his identifying significant sites. Using these nps studies and recommendations we developed a list of 100 Historic Sites related to the race Reform Movement in the postwar era that received some federal designation, with the highest being that of National Historic landmark. The working list for potential sites for consideration to propose for inscription on the World Heritage list. In atlanta, the suppose he him the symposium attendees of the the consideration responses of a larger group of scholars who had been consulted and asked to identify sites that they thought of as most important in telling the story of the movement. Gap studies make clear, the World Heritage committee is eager to increase the size of conscious and memory that their witness to human rights abuses including genocide , slavery, and violations of freedom. A side of conscious is a public site, museum, or memorial that serves as a memory of a to relatepast used with contemporary issues. The castles of the slave trade in ghana, the auschwitz extermination camp in poland were among the earliest places that were inscribed as sites of conscience. Racialhe struggle for justice in america and that the properties are visited by civil rights programs around the world, these places joined other global sites of conscious. , they serve, like the Transatlantic Slave Trade sites in Rio De Janeiro and off the coast of senegal, as a reminder of human exploitation and sanctuary for reconciliation. Like Robben Island off cape town where south africa imprisoned and i apartheid activists. Like Independence Hall in philadelphia where the Founding Fathers framed a republic based on equality for all, they represent the universal principles of freedom and democracy. The serial nomination represents black people in the United States against racial segregation and for firstclass citizenship. It is organized around criteria 6. , and argueserchange of idea the racially separate and unequal spaces resulted in complex over White Supremacy and racially quality. Africanamericans racial equality. Africanamericans protested in order to gain equal access to public accommodations in such theaters, hotels, restaurants, and transportation on buses, trains, and planes. Civil rights organizations filed lawsuits against state and local governments to remove the emblematic jim crow white colored signs from public parks and facilities dismantling the separate entrances to buildings and inequalities in the environment. Though, in some cases, shadows past remain. Lized demands for black political empowerment convinced the federal government to end the measures and secure black Voting Rights in the south. Blackowned the africanamerican church housed the modern movement, provided most of the leadership and supporters, and nurtured a tradition of resistance to White Supremacy that began in slavery activismnues through such as black lives matter. Demonstrating criteria three, testimony to cultural tradition, the modern movement challenged exceptionalism and privilege with a counter narrative, upheld the ideas of democracy and human rights as enshrined in the u. S. Declaration of independence, constitution, and u. S. That and universal declaration of human rights. In the 1950s and 1960s africanamericans staged a series of protests over Racial Discrimination in the public sphere through events like the montgomery bus boycott of 1955 to 1956, the greensboro citizens of 1960. The freedom rides in 1961. In 1963 birmingham demonstrations and the march on washington. The Voting Rights campaigns. The selma to montgomery march in 1965. The montgomery fight for the 1968justice and poor peoples campaign. The properties of the serial nomination represent criterium , universal significance, the challenge to the color line of these particular places led to such reform as the brown versus the board of education decision of 1954 which resulted in the desegregation of public schools. The Voting Rights act of 1960 five, which provided africanamericans equal right to the political system. Fair housing act to end discrimination in housing. All civil rights sites find their origin in racial segregation. It results in the toppling of legal White Supremacy and drew global attention to the historic landmarks rise above the rest as events of universal significance that ushered in an american ideology of racial equality and human rights struggles the world over. They were intergroup to they gral. Inter already on the tentative list that though Baptist Church contributed many of the members for the Alabama Christian Movement for human rights that staged the bus boycotts, that supported the citizens in the 1960s, and let the Birmingham Campaign in 1963. Because it symbolized the indigenous movement, the cloak looks clan targeted the alabama baptist with the bombing that girls getting ready for sunday school in 1963. The previous spring, 16th street house protests across the street. These anchor the related sites including the Ag Gaston Motel and other sites that comprised the boundaries of the New Birmingham National Civil rights monument. I will hand out this. Good afternoon. My name is brent leggs. Africanamerican Cultural Heritage action fund assistant professor at the university of maryland. I thought i would start by sharing my personal story. Historic preservation practitioner. Different from a traditional historian. Kentucky. The duke a, we did not talk about the value of preserving Old Buildings around the dinner table. When i was searching for my professional identity, i thought i will get a phd in history. Phd inht about getting a philosophy and realized you had to be fluent in a second language, so i scrapped that. I learned there is a furniture making class, and i thought it would be cool to use my creative spirit. I ran into the dean of the Program Preservation and he convinced me to go into the graduate preservation program. For my Research Assistantship they asked me to conduct an inventory of rosenwald schools in kentucky. Have you heard of rosenwald schools . It is a Massive School Building Program developed by booker t. Washington at Tuskegee University funded by philanthropist rosenwald who is the president of sears and roebuck. They constructed 5000 schools and 15 southern states. They are the physical manifestation and response to a social movement, crisis of a social movement, in black education here during the process i learned my mom and dad went to rosenwald schools and i had a connection to the past like never before. I remember walking into a School Building and i had the multi sensory experience. There was a transcendent quality about Historic Preservation. That is what i want to talk to you about. OurNational Trust, Signature Program is called national tr treasures. Trust partners with community and Property Owners for 25 years to remove an impending threat to a nationally significant building and identify solutions for the preservation of those places. I want to give you a quick overview. In patterson, new jersey, this is the home field of larry dauphine who integrated after jackie robinson. Im proud to say that through the National Treasure campaign we designated it as a National Historic landmark and included it in the boundaries of the National Park. It is preserved in perpetuity. Founder library at Howard University in washington, d. C. I love about this space is that it was designed by an early pioneering lack architect who architect forty decades at Howard University. It has an unknown story of civil rights. At one point, howards law school was housed inside this building. This is where Charles Hamilton houston and Thurgood Marshall devised a legal strategy that would lead to the integration of americas public schools. Working with the university to develop a plan to reimagine this Outdated Library space. Mary, how many of you have heard of it . I learned a polly mary two years ago. Raised in, who was north carolina, would be a cofounder of the National Organization of women, the first africanamerican episcopal site. Thurgood marshall referred to bible of he a reuse strategy. The plan is to convert this into the polly mary center for us justice. We supported them in restoring the exterior of the building. Madam cj walker. How many of you have heard of madam cj walker . Cj walker is americas first selfmade female millionaire. She created a formula to help africanamerican womens hair grow and be healthy. She would train 23,000 sales agents and workers in the United States, south america, and the caribbean in 1918 before women had a right to vote. She built a monument in new york, the most expensive zip code in the United States. This is on the same street as letters. In may 2017 trust provided exterior and partial interior protection to ensure that it is preserved forever. Are 2 of the newest National Treasure campaigns. Claiborne temple where dr. King had his last stands with the sanitation wor