Kelly Ingram Park

Kelly Ingram Park, a four-acre public space in downtown Birmingham beside 16th Street Baptist Church, became a pivotal site in the Birmingham campaign of 1963. Under Reverend James Bevel’s direction, students gathered there for organized protests and were met by mass arrests, police dogs, and high-pressure firehoses ordered by Public Safety Commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor. Images from the park reached audiences around the world, helping shift national opinion toward racial equality and adding momentum to the end of public segregation in Birmingham and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Renovated in 1992, the park now serves as both a memorial landscape and an active civic space.

Birmingham, Alabama · United States