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Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was among 10 recipients honored this week with a 2024 National Preservation Award.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation bestowed the Trustees’ Emeritus Award for historic site stewardship to Sixteenth Street, the only institution across the country to receive this recognition. The National Trust cited the church’s successful restoration efforts and its role as a “shining example” of preservation, cultural revitalization, and social activism.
An awards ceremony took place on Tuesday, kicking off the 2024 PastForward Conference, held this year in New Orleans.
“In our continued effort to celebrate the power of place, we gather at this PastForward Conference to honor some of the most effective leaders in the field of preservation,” said Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “Whether preserving and honoring African American burial grounds, or repurposing a former newspaper headquarters into a thriving downtown center, the efforts of our 2024 awardees have activated meaningful sites to serve the public good.”
During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Sixteenth Street served as the organizational headquarters, site of mass meetings, and rallying point for African Americans protesting widespread institutionalized racism in Birmingham. The Ku Klux Klan bombing of the church in 1963 was followed by President Lyndon Johnson’s signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act into law.
Today, the church remains committed to serving the community, as well as the more than 100,000 tourists who visit annually to tour the redesigned educational spaces and multi-media museum experiences that focus not only on the bombing and its aftermath, but also on the aesthetic significance of the church’s design by African American architect W. A. Rayfield.
“We are deeply honored to accept this recognition on behalf of the Birmingham community,” said the Rev. Arthur Price Jr., the pastor at Sixteenth Street. “Our sanctuary is a sacred space in every sense, and we are proud to continue on its legacy and history.”
