Alabama Pilgrimage, Day 2- Birmingham

Our first full day in Alabama took place in Birmingham. This town contains, most famously, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, site of a bombing which killed four young girls during the Civil Rights movement.
Our day, however, started with a trip to Vulcan Park, which contains a large statue of the Roman God Vulcan, God of the forge. This statue is the largest Iron statue in the world, and was amazing to see. Usually people can go up to the top of the large tower on which he resides and see the whole of Birmingham beneath them, but we went early this morning, so that part of the Park wasn't open yet. There wasn't much to see in Vulcan park, so we left not long after our morning prayer.

Next, after a quick trip to the visitor's center, we went to Kelly Ingram Park, which contained a self-guided tour of several statues depicting scenes from the Civil Rights movement. It was a very beautiful park, and a nice, relaxing way to start our day.
The Kelly Ingram Park was right next to both the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institution, so next we went to the church. We learned a bit about the bombing, and also a beautiful stain glass window designed by a Welsh man for the church after the bombing depicting the way African Americans suffered during that time, but also containing religious connotations.

Once we had finished with the church we moved across the street to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institution. It was like a museum of the Civil Rights Movements containing footage, models, news articles, etc. The footage and news articles were from before, during, and after the movement and its laws were passed. The models were interesting displays, the earlier ones showing the segregation, and the way there weren't "separate but equal" as they were supposed to be, later were things like a full size part of a bus that was bombed, a model of a jail cell, etc.
The Civil Rights Institution was really interesting. Though it was a long self-guided tour, int was incredibly informative and interesting, containing mediums of information that could appeal to everyone depending on what they preferred.
Cameras weren't allowed in the museum, so we don't have any pictures.
After that we were done in Birmingham and drove to Montgomery. We've just gotten settled in our next spot for the night, St. John's Episcopal Church. We'll be staying here for the next few nights, and it's beautiful. You could fit about three of our church in here.