Historical Montgomery

We only have one more week left in Alabama! Time has certainly flown during our 2 month stint in the States. Over all I think we've done a pretty good job of staying busy and finding fun ways to spend our weekends. But most of our time here in the city of Montgomery has been focused on newer, consumer attractions like movies, shops and restaurants. I knew, from perusing tourist websites, that the city has some rich history as well. So we took our final Saturday here to explore some of the big historical sites. I'm really glad that we took the time to do this as it gave me a much greater appreciation for this city and its tie to the Civil Rights movement. In fact, I wish we would have taken this tour a lot earlier as I'm sure it would have affected my attitude toward the city and its Southern culture.

The first stop on our tour was the Rosa Parks Museum in downtown Montgomery. It was built on the site of her arrest in 1955. Now, I don't claim to have an in-depth understanding of the Civil Rights Movement. But the story of Rosa Parks is something I thought I knew pretty well. Oh, how wrong I was. I always thought her arrest was an event that happened in the middle of the Civil Rights movement. Sure, it was brave of her to refuse to give up her seat on the bus, but over all I never understood why it was such a big deal.

We did not realize that her arrest was actually the event that began the Civil Rights movement. We were also interested to learn that, of all the forms of racial segregation African Americans faced in mid-century Montgomery, the unspoken rules giving white passengers preferential treatment on city buses was the most humiliating. When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger, she was not only breaking social protocol, she was putting her own safety at risk. After her arrest, local leaders of the NAACP and black churches (including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) bailed her out and organized a 13 month boycott of the city bus system. It was really sad seeing the crazy lengths to which the white city officials went to prevent change and retain their control and "superiority." The museum did a great job of not only telling the story, but introducing us to many of the major players in the Civil Rights movement, and showing how this one event drew the nation's attention to the issue and inspired a non-violent revolution!

James and I were also very moved by the way the museum made sure to include the vital role Christianity played in the Civil Rights movement. They had a whole exhibit devoted to the epiphany Dr. King had late one night toward the beginning of the bus boycott. He had received hateful letters threatening to bomb his house if the boycott didn't stop. His fear for the safety of his wife and new baby girl forced him to reevaluate his faith and make it real. He sat down in his kitchen and prayed out loud, telling God that he wants to do what is right but needs guidance and courage, because he was beginning to lose confidence. Then he explained that he heard the voice of God saying, "Martin Luther, stand up for truth. Stand up for justice. Stand up for righteousness." This epiphany solidified his resolve and defined the non-violent, faith-based direction that he lead the movement. Very cool.

After that inspiring lesson from Dr. King about taking your faith seriously, we couldn't wait to go see the parsonage where he lived and the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where he preached. We thought it was kind of ironic that it was right across the street from the Alabama capitol building. One building representing the seat of white supremacy in the south, and the other serving as the birth-place of the Civil Rights movement. Crazy.

We saw these peace poles all over Asia. Very cool to find one next to Dr. King's church

After that, we checked out one other, unrelated historical site in Montgomery: the F. Scott Fitzgerald museum. We thought it was a timely lesson since there's a new movie based on The Great Gatsby coming out this weekend. What we learned about the Fitzgeralds was interesting, but sad. Typical story of a famous couple on top of the world spiraling into depression, drunkenness and marital dysfunction. But hey, at least now we can say we've been to one of the homes where they lived!

Over all, I'd say it was a successful weekend! We certainly learned a lot and have a greater appreciation for this city that served as our temporary home for two months.