Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium

The Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium, Inc. is a collaboration among 20 historic places of worship, lodging, and civic engagement that played significant roles in the African American struggle for freedom. While recent history focuses on the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, these institutions have been dedicated to improving the quality of Black life since Reconstruction. The Consortium was launched in 2017 when the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) successfully nominated the sites to the World Monuments Fund (WMF) Watch. The Alabama Consortium was included on the 2018 WMF Watch among a diverse group of 25 global cultural heritage sites. Incubated for two years as a project of BCRI, the Consortium is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping these sites build their capacity and sustainability. The Consortium operates with collaborative leadership rooted in a shared belief that there is strength in the unity of their common history, mission, and goals. The Consortium sites have been preserved through the passion, commitment, and herculean efforts of dedicated volunteers who are committed to saving, not only these historic properties but their important stories. Taken together, these sites provide a historical, social, and cultural context for the movement that changed our state, nation, and world. Moving forward, the Consortium will continue its work to assure that this legacy is preserved for today and future generations.