BCRI History & Mission Timeline

1977   Birmingham Mayor David Vann mentions in a weekly news conference that a civil rights museum would be an appropriate project for the city. 
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1978    Birmingham City Council endorses Mayor Vann's recommendation of creation of a civil rights museum.
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1979    Mayor Vann is defeated in his bid for re-election by Dr. Richard Arrington, Jr., Birmingham's first African American mayor. 

The Civil Rights Museum Study Committee recommends that         the city incorporate a Board of Directors and acquire property for     a museum.

1982  The City of Birmingham begins acquiring property for a civil rights museum.

1983 - 1986   Mayor Richard Arrington, Jr. appoints a Civil Rights Institute Task Force to create a mission statement and plan for the new facility.  Odessa Woolfolk, Director of the UAB Center for Urban Affairs, and Frank Young, Chairman of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, serve as co-chairs of the Task Force.

The Civil Rights Institute Task Force crafts a mission                 statement and thematic program and guides the work of city-        appointed architects and designers.

Birmingham citizens vote down a $65 million bond issue that     includes $24 million for a science center and a civil rights             museum, as well as renovations to the existing art museum.

1987  Civil Rights Institute Task Force approves schematic drawings and a program statement developed by the architectural firm Bond Ryder James and museum consultants, the American History Workshop.

1988  Mayor Richard Arrington, Jr. authorizes plans for a Civil Rights Cultural District, including a renovated Kelly Ingram Park, a Jazz Hall of Fame in the historic Carver Theatre, a Civil Rights Institute, and landscaping of public space around the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.

Grover Harrison Harrison, landscape architects, in association         with Grover Mouton, selected to redesign Kelly Ingram Park to     include sculptures depicting the Civil Rights Movement.

Voters again turn down a multi-purpose bond issue ($110             million) including $25 million for various museums.
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1990  Birmingham City Council incorporates a 15-member Board of Directors for the Civil Rights Institute, naming Odessa Woolfolk president.

The Board of Directors adopts the mission statement and             interpretive program recommended by the Task Force, hires the     design firm of Joseph Wetzel, Inc., and initiates a capital             campaign.

1991  The Historical Preservation Authority of Birmingham issues revenue bonds for financing a portion of the cost of redesigning Kelly Ingram Park and constructing the Civil Rights Institute.

1992  The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and the City of Birmingham enter into a funding and management agreement for both the Institute and the Carver properties, which include the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.

November 14, 1992
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute unveils a statue of             Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth sculpted by John Rhoden of New     York, formerly of Birmingham.

November 15, 1992
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is officially dedicated.          Former UN Ambassador Andrew Young is the main speaker at     dedication ceremonies.

November 16, 1992
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute opens to the public.

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