Filed under: Architecture, Birmingham, AL, Black History Month, Rickwood Field, Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Wallace Rayfield, baseball, history
Adding on to my earlier post, it’s a great day for those of us who claim to be preservationists. As reported in today’s Birmingham News, Sixteenth Street Baptist Church will be added to the National Register of Historic Places during a ceremony on Monday taking place at the church. The building not only serves as one of the most important sites of the civil rights movement, it also represents the work of someone that needs to be recognized in the African American community, not just during Black History Month, but all year long.Wallace A. Rayfield served as the chair of the architecture department at Tuskegee Institute and as the designer of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Despite the fact that some of his buildings no longer stand, it is important to recognize the amount of work that this Georgia born architect created. Two brilliant examples of his work are currently being preserved in very different ways. Sixteenth Street is in the midst of a stabilization campaign, while 32nd Street Baptist Church, located in the Lakeview section, is being converted into residential lofts. Rayfield’s work is found all over the world, from Chicago, IL to Kenya. He is recognized as the first Black architect to practice in Alabama, despite having never been registered with the state. He also served at one point as a professor at Tuskegee Institute.
This is a great honor to be bestowed upon a building that has meant so much to the lives of many African Americans in the city of Birmingham and supporters of civil rights around the world. The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. and it is scheduled to be quite brief. So get there early.
SAY HEY!
For those of you who don’t know, and I still think there are plenty that don’t, ESPN has scheduled an exhibition game set in 1948 between the Bristol Barnstormers and your Birmingham Black Barons. The game is set for a 3 p.m. first pitch at the friendly confines of Rickwood Field on Sunday, February 26. The game is also scheduled to be broadcast live on ESPN Classic. A portion of the proceeds from the game are scheduled to benefit the Alabama Negro League Association, benefiting those former Negro League players living in the state. The ballpark is one of the hidden gems in this city and the cause is great.
A while back I said I’d try to write about some of the cooler things in the city from time to time. Some of them were among the reasons I ended up trying to move here in the first place. One of the reasons that I chose to move to Birmingham was the ability to see a varied terrain again. Growing up, the apartment sat at one of the highest points in the city and had some really cool views of not just the borough, but of the East Side skyline. On a clear day you could see planes taking off and landing at LaGuardia Airport. Living in Savannah was great too. There’s nothing wrong with living fifteen minutes away from the beach and having Spanish moss draping over most of your major roadways (so yeah, I do miss it).
That being said, the opportunity to be able to look out and enjoy views of the area without having to make the climb on a man-made object is pretty good. It’s also great to have an oasis from the real world close by. Luckily, Birmingham has several of those escapes close by, but the closest is Ruffner Mountain. One of the cooler things that’s happened since moving here has been the opportunity to serve on the center’s board. There is nothing more important that the ability to get away from it all. Sometimes it’s nice when you don’t have to get away that far in order to do it.
I am definitely not a wealthy individual, choosing to work in the non-profit realm. I am someone who figures that if I have a blog that is even being remotely read that it provides an opportunity to talk about a resource that may not always be in plain view to most, partially on purpose. There are some great things getting ready to happen up on the mountain, including construction on a new building for exhibits and meeting space and the development of a Friends of Ruffner Mountain group that will look at ways to spread the good words about the mountain and maybe even help us encourage additional donations for the facility. I’ll post when informational meetings will take place when I get more information.
The opportunity to drive less than 10 minutes to Ruffner Mountain gives me a chance to escape a crazy world and at least partially escape the buzz. Hopefully the showers tomorrow won’t keep people from participating in the orienteering class on the mountain. And you can always visit their website to find out some more info as well.
The same question applies as last time… what are some of the things in your city that make it unique? Post a response. Or join the group and start a debate.
That’s all for now. Have fun.
