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Bethel Baptist Church, Parsonage, and Guardhouse
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Bethel Baptist Church in 1993
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| Location: | 3233, 3232 and 3236 29th Avenue North, Collegeville, Alabama |
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| Architectural style: | Modern Movement |
| Governing body: | Private |
| NRHP Reference#: | 05000455 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP: | April 05, 2005[1] |
| Designated NHL: | April 05, 2005[2] |
| Designated ARLH: | November 13, 1996 |
Bethel Baptist Church in Collegeville, a neighborhood in Birmingham, Alabama, served as headquarters from 1956 to 1961 for the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR), which was led by Fred Shuttlesworth and active in the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement. The ACMHR focused on legal and nonviolent direct action against segregated accommodations, transportation, schools and employment discrimination. It played a crucial role in the 1961 Freedom Ride that resulted in federal enforcement of U.S. Supreme Court and Interstate Commerce Commission rulings to desegregate public transportation.[2] The church buildings were bombed on three separate occasions, first on December 25, 1956[3], again on June 29, 1958[4], and finally on December 14, 1962[5].
It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2005.[2][6]
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