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Within the next few weeks, two rusting armored personnel vehicles will be salvaged from a Birmingham landfill and restored to their "original glory." They represent the fear and intimidation that Eugene "Bull" Connor's (former Birmingham 's Police Commissioner) police department placed over blacks in Birmingham in an effort to bar those people from equal access. One of the tanks will become a focal point in the new Human Rights Gallery planned for the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI). Other pieces of the city's history will also be woven into changes and minor upgrades in other parts of the exhibition.
A chair from James Armstrong's barber shop will be a centerpiece in the new display on Black Businesses; a cross and shovel used in a Huntsville hate crime will be added to the Institute's current Klan display; and recently uncovered civil rights era photographs from The Birmingham News will be added to current stories.
BCRI unveiled plans on Tuesday, June 17, for its "Expanding the Legacy" Campaign Renovation Project to an audience comprised mainly of Campaign Steering Committee members, board, staff and volunteers. On hand to share renderings for the renovation were Andy Anway, President and Sara Smith, Director of Exhibition Design with Amaze Design, Inc. of Boston , Massachusetts . Amaze has been responsible for incorporating historical components shared by the BCRI History Panel, as well as input from a BCRI staff and board team, to create the design for the renovation.
BCRI President and CEO, Dr. Lawrence J. Pijeaux, Jr., thanked the "Expanding the Legacy" Campaign Steering Committee leaders Charles McCrary, Chair (Alabama Power Company) and Johnny Johns, Co-Chair (Protective Life Corporation) for their outstanding leadership in raising $6.3 million for the campaign.
The construction phase of the project will begin around mid-September with the unveiling scheduled to coincide with the Institute's 16th Anniversary Celebration on November 15, 2008.
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