Kelly Ingram Park

Distinguished as "A Place of Revolution and Reconciliation," historic Kelly Ingram Park serves as a threshold to the Civil Rights District. During the Civil Rights Movement, this public park became the focal point of a grassroots resistance to the inhumanities of racism and discrimination by law and by custom. Events which took place in Kelly Ingram Park vividly portrayed the realities of police dogs and fire hoses turned on marchers who gathered for civil rights demonstrations in the 1960s. These images, which shocked the country and the world, proved to be instrumental in overturning legal segregation in the nation. Sculptures commissioned for the park depict attacks on demonstrators, children jailed for their role in the protests, and a tribute to the clergy's contributions to the movement. In sharp contrast to scenes from the 60's, all paths on Freedom Walk converge on its center, a peaceful and meditative life spring of hope. An audio tour, available via your cell phone, takes you on a journey through the most dramatic days of the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham. An audio tour, available via your cell phone, takes you on a journey through the most dramatic days of the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham.