THUR., JAN 18 thru SUN., JAN 21, 2024
We traveled 200 miles northeast from Gulf Shores to Montgomery AL and landed at Capital City RV Park. Our temporary home is a little noisy with a busy road out front and a “dog resort” next door. lol.
On Friday, Jan. 19th (2024) the pod headed into downtown. The city itself seems rather depressed, although that may not be a fair assessment since we only saw certain sections, but the sense of history is astounding!
We visited the Alabama State Capitol (1851) and stood on the spot where delegates from Southern states voted to establish a new nation in 1861, and the Confederacy was born. A little over a century later, the 1965 Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March led by Martin Luther King, Jr., ended on the street in front of the Capitol. A lot of history here.
Fast forward to today… the Executive branch has its offices here, including the Governor, but Legislature is located elsewhere. However, we did get to see the Old Senate Chamber, which is no longer in use but accurately restored to the 1861 time period. The House Chamber was also restored to its late 19th century appearance. The stained glass and plasterwork in the Rotunda date back to 1906. Murals in the same space were created by a Mobile artist between 1927 and 1930. Several ceilings and walls throughout the structure are painted in the trompe l’oeil style making it appear 3-dimensional. Quite striking!
A magnificent 3-story cantilevered or floating spiral staircase is in the entranceway of the Capitol. It’s believed to have been built by Horace King, an engineer, bridge builder and freed slave. Remarkable.
There was a marvelous Wooton Desk on display. It has an ingenious design! It closes in on itself and can be completely locked up for security but still have a spot for someone to drop in a letter. Every Alabama Governor from 1880 to 1912 had a famed Wooten Desk in his office. That tradition ended when the Governor’s office was moved to the new North Wing.
After visiting Alabama’s State Capitol, we continued on to the First White House of the Confederacy where Jefferson Davis and his wife lived for 7 months before they relocated to Richmond, Virginia. It’s completely furnished with original period pieces from the 1850s and 1860s, although it also includes Mrs. Davis’s bedroom furniture when she resided at the Majestic Hotel in New York from 1891 until her death in 1906. She moved to New York to pursue a literary career after her husband passed away.
We also walked by many official state buildings in the downtown area. All painted stark white.
And we passed by many beautifully rendered 3-d sculptures placed on slabs of stone around the state buildings depicting various scenes of Alabama history.
The handsome red brick Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church stands one block from the State Capitol. Dr. King was pastor there for 6 years. Unfortunately the doors were locked when we walked by.
There is a statue of Rosa Parks marking the spot where she waited to catch that fateful bus that forever changed her life. And we saw the location where she was arrested for not giving up her seat on that same bus. It is marked by a sculpture entitled “The Wounded Dove” in white bronze and gifted by the artist to Troy University to sit in “the shadow of Rosa Parks Museum to remind us of Mrs. Parks courageous act on Dec. 1, 1955.” The Rosa Parks Museum was dedicated on December 1, 2000, which was the 45th anniversary of her arrest (no photos allowed inside). By touring the museum, we learned a lot about the Montgomery Bus Boycott which lasted 381 days and basically started the Civil Rights Movement. It could not have worked without the incredible organization and fortitude of the Montgomery black community.
Lastly we had a late lunch at Chris’s Famous Hotdogs, the oldest family owned restaurant in Montgomery. It’s been around since 1917 and has served Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, and 4 U.S. Presidents to name a few! We think the sticky floor is original to the building. lol.
A fascinating day in a uniquely Southern city with so much history to offer.
Saturday, Jan. 20th (2024), our pod headed back into Montgomery for one of the most remarkable museum experiences that any of us have ever had.
We visited the Legacy Museum where around every corner was a new dramatic depiction of the black experience in America. Photos were not permitted. For me, some of the most compelling imagery was a wall of sea water showcasing the millions of slaves taken from Africa, sculptures of bronze heads depicting the millions who died at sea on the passage over, and a wall of 500 glass jars with samples of soil from locations where lynchings had taken place. Incredibly powerful. As Martin Luther King, Jr. stated “True peace is not merely the absence of tension. It is the presence of justice.”
Afterwards we headed by shuttle bus to the Memorial site where 800 steel monuments (tombs) represent the 800 counties in the U.S. where documented lynchings have taken place. The monuments start at ground level then rise up to represent lynchings. Beyond moving. There are also duplicate steel monuments on the ground arranged by state. In addition, there were a series of sculptures honoring black women who were arrested during 1955 for challenging Montgomery’s law requiring racial segregation on buses.
A truly unique and commanding museum experience. We were all wrung out afterwards. The museum and monument were funded by the Equal Justice Initiative. They are committed “to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American Society.” I’d say they are telling their story in as dramatic a way as possible. It was a Smithsonian caliber experience.
Next we move on to Vicksburg, Mississippi…
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