Guards at the Gate

Unfair laws forced Birmingham Blacks to create their own distinctive world of economic and social self-reliance. The historic Black business district extended several blocks around Kelly Ingram Park and contained a concentration of Black-owned beauty and barber shops, pool halls, restaurants, theaters, professional offices, clothing stores, small shops and other businesses. Here, Blacks were treated with the dignity and respect that Whites denied them in the main retail district located five blocks away.

Birmingham, Alabama · United States