NMAAHC Collections Search

Belt buckle from Norma Rae film production presented to Bob Minor

Created by: Hit Line USA
Owned by: Bob Minor, American, born 1944
Commissioned by: Alabama Film Office

Medium: metal
Dimensions: H x W x D: 2 1/8 × 3 5/16 × 3/4 in. (5.4 × 8.4 × 1.9 cm)

Type: buckles (strap accessories)

Place used: Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1978-1979

Description: A silver belt buckle, rectangular with rounded edges. Decorated like a strip of film (squares along top and bottom like edges of film), with [ALABAMA / FILM COMMISSION / NORMA RAE] in relief in the center. The back is the loop and hook style buckle, silver. Etched into the top back reads [107], and a logo for Hit Line U.S.A. at the bottom, also etched. Handwritten with black ink on reverse reads [BOB MINOR].

Topic: African American; Actors; Clothing and dress; Film; Hollywood (Film); Labor

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Bob Minor, Stuntman, Stunt Coordinator, 2nd Unit Director, Actor

Object number: 2014.303.4

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Clothing-Costume

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Chromogenic print of The Last Mr. Bigg in Mobile, Alabama

Photograph by: Davenport, Gregory L Jr., American, born 1977
Subject of: The Last Mr. Bigg, American, ca. 1970 - 2015

Medium: dye and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
Dimensions: H x W: 11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm)

Type: chromogenic color prints

Place captured: Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Date: February 2005

Description: A color photograph of Alabama rapper The Last Mr. Bigg.; Bigg is pictured seated, wearing a green Chicago White Sox jacket and hat, and smoking.; He has a white gauze bandage over his proper right eye, with black sunglasses on top. The green baseball cap reads [SOX] diagonally in white. He is wearing a white ribbed shirt under the green jacket. There is a red "C" on the left side of the jacket, outlined in white and then yellow. The word [SOX] is on top of the "C" in white with a yellow outline. He has a goatee and long fingernails. He is holding a cigarette in his mouth with his right hand. His left hand is making a fist and is on top of a newspaper on his lap. He is sitting in a white chair and there is some house siding and a window visible behind him.; There is an inscription on the verso, handwritten by Bill Adler, identifying the subject, location, date and photographer.

Topic: African American; Hip hop (Music); Musicians; Photography

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2015.132.214

Restrictions & Rights: © Gregory L. Davenport Jr.

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Collection title: Eyejammie Hip Hop Photography Collection
Classification: Media Arts-Photography

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Letter to Roberta Tate from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Written by: Dr. King, Martin Luther Jr., American, 1929 - 1968
Received by: Tate, Roberta M., American, 1912 - 2011
Signed by: Dr. King, Martin Luther Jr., American, 1929 - 1968

Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions: H x W: 11 x 8 1/2 in. (27.9 x 21.6 cm)

Type: letters (correspondence)

Place made: Montgomery, Montgomery County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America
Place used: Passaic, Passaic County, New Jersey, United States, North and Central America
Place depicted: New York, United States, North and Central America

Date: October 23, 1958

Caption: This letter was sent as a thank you for a condolence message sent by Roberta Tate to Dr. King "in connection with the unfortunate incident he experienced in New York." The incident refers to the September 20, 1958 attack on Dr. King in Harlem, New York. While signing copies of his book, Stride Toward Freedom, Izola Curry stabbed Dr. King in the chest with a letter opener. She believed that Dr. King was conspiring against her with communists. Doctors were able to save Dr. King's life after hours of surgery.
Description: Typewritten letter from Martin Luther King Jr. to Roberta Tate. The letter is signed by King in blue ink and is dated October 23, 1958. The letterhead is printed in black at the top center, in a gothic font. The letter begins with "Dear Mrs. Tate: Thank you so much for the kind message / you sent to me in connection with the unfortunate incident I experienced in New York..." The back of the document is blank.

Topic: African American; Civil Rights; Correspondence; Social reform; United States--History--1953-1961

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Jyl C. Woolfolk

Object number: 2012.166.1

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Documents and Published Materials

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Letter to Roberta Tate from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Written by: Dr. King, Martin Luther Jr., American, 1929 - 1968
Received by: Tate, Roberta M., American, 1912 - 2011
Signed by: Dr. King, Martin Luther Jr., American, 1929 - 1968

Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions: H x W: 11 x 8 1/2 in. (27.9 x 21.6 cm)

Type: letters (correspondence)

Place made: Montgomery, Montgomery County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America
Place used: Passaic, Passaic County, New Jersey, United States, North and Central America

Date: December 24, 1958

Caption: Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, published in 1958, is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic account of the 1955-56 Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Description: Typewritten letter from Martin Luther King Jr. to Roberta Tate. The letter is signed by King in black ink and is dated December 24, 1958. The letterhead is printed in black at the top in a gothic font. The letter begins with "Dear Miss Tate: This is just a note to acknowledge receipt of your very kind letter..." The back of the document is blank.

Topic: African American; Civil Rights; Correspondence; Social reform; United States--History--1953-1961

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Jyl C. Woolfolk

Object number: 2012.166.2

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Documents and Published Materials

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Spirit of Youth

16mm motion picture film of Spirit of Youth

Directed by: Fraser, Harry L., American, 1889 - 1974
Written by: Hoerl, Arthur, American, 1891 - 1968
Subject of: Louis, Joe, American, 1914 - 1981; Harris, Edna Mae, American, 1910 - 1997; Moreland, Mantan, American, 1902 - 1973

Medium: 16mm Film (a): acetate film;; 16mm Film (b): acetate film;
Dimensions: Duration: 65 Minutes; Length (Film Reel 1): 1300 Feet; Length (Film Reel 2): 1100 Feet

Type: motion pictures (information artifacts)

Place filmed: Hollywood, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States, North and Central America
Place depicted: Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America; Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, United States, North and Central America; New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1938

Caption: "Spirit of You" is a dramatic film based on the life of American heavyweight boxer Joe Louis. The lead character, Joe Thomas, is played by Joe Louis himself.
Description: 2015.167.19.1ab: 16mm black and white films.; Jefferson Thomas, a black foundry worker, is seriously injured when a heavy castor falls on his legs. No longer able to support his family, Jefferson's young son, Joe, decides to leave school and take a job. Many years later, Joe, now grown, gives his family all his savings and leaves Birmingham to make something of himself. Joe hitchhikes to Detroit, where he gets a job as a dishwasher and meets Creighton "Crickie" Fitzgibbons. When Crickie and Joe lose their jobs, they find work at a storage and shipping company, but are soon fired from the job when a foreman hits Crickie and Joe knocks him out with one punch. Impressed with his fighting abilities, Crickie encourages Joe to enter the Golden Gloves boxing tournament, and he is soon billed in the newspapers as the 'Dark Destroyer'. After winning the finals, manager Frankie Walburn offers to handle him as a professional. Joe accepts after consulting with his mother Nora, who now lives in the city, and who tells him to be honest and fair. As Joe wins bouts, Flora Bailey, a nightclub singer at the Bluebird Cafe´, who is in cahoots with gambler Duke Emblin, takes an interest in him. Their involvement worries Frankie, whose concern that he is ignoring his training antagonizes Joe. When Mary and Joe's sister Eleanor, visit Flora, they implore her to help get Joe back on track, but because Duke is now betting against Joe, Flora encourages his nightlife and drinking. Joe is knocked out in a match, and as he prepares for the heavyweight championship bout against Jack Stanley, he confesses to Flora that he loves Mary. When Flora sees that he does not have his heart in the fight, she brings Mary, now a schoolteacher, to the ring, and her presence spurs Joe to defeat Stanley in a knockout. Afterwards, he and Mary are guests of honor at a banquet at which Flora sings"; Source: AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Accessed on August 12, 2016 (http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=2226); Consists of: 16mm Flim (a).

Topic: African American; Boxing; Families; Race films

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Randall and Sam Nieman

Object number: 2015.167.19.1ab

Restrictions & Rights: Unknown - Restrictions Possible

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Collection title: Nieman Film Collection
Classification: Media Arts-Film and Video

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Swing!

16mm motion picture film of Swing!

Directed by: Oscar Micheaux, American, 1884 - 1951
Written by: Oscar Micheaux, American, 1884 - 1951
Subject of: Green, Cora, American
Produced by: Oscar Micheaux, American, 1884 - 1951

Medium: 16mm Film (a): acetate film;; 16mm Film (b): acetate film;
Dimensions: Duration: 65 Minutes; Length (Film Reel 1): 1100 Feet; Length (Film Reel 2): 1400 Feet

Type: motion pictures (information artifacts)

Place depicted: Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America; Harlem, New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
Place filmed: New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1938

Caption: Preparing for the premiere of his Broadway show, an aspiring producer experiences a number of setbacks due to his leading star.
Description: 2015.167.20.1ab: 16mm black and white films.; As Amanda "Mandy" Jenkins wakes up to go to work as a cook for the white Hewitt family in Birmingham, Alabama, her husband Cornell returns home from a night of gambling. When Ethel and Liza, Mandy's friends, learn that Cornell is having an affair with Eloise Jackson, the wife of Lem, they agree that wives should stick together when men two-time them. Cornell takes Mandy's money to pay for his entertainment and diverts suspicion by telling his wife that he is an automobile salesman. Liza, however, reveals the truth about Cornell when she informs Mandy that her husband is being driven around in Eloise's car. Mandy goes to a nightclub looking for her husband, and when she finds him dancing with Eloise, a fight ensues. Months later, Eloise is living in Harlem, where she is singing under the assumed name Cora Smith. Although Eloise works for producer Ted Gregory, she pushes him around and intimidates him. When Lena Powell, Gregory's secretary, suggests to her boss that her old friend, Mandy, be hired as the wardrobe mistress, he consents to it. After punching Eloise when she is drunk, Lem delves into New York's underworld, where he soon learns that he can go on relief and be paid for not working. Three days before the show's opening, Eloise becomes intoxicated and breaks her leg, and Gregory replaces her with Mandy. Mandy, who has seen Cornell penniless, has a change of heart and takes her husband back. As Cornell soaks Mandy's tired feet, he realizes that he must stray no more. When the show finally opens, it's a huge success.; Source: AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Accessed on August 12, 2016.

Topic: African American; American South; Musicians; Nightlife; Race films; Violence

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Randall and Sam Nieman

Object number: 2015.167.20.1ab

Restrictions & Rights: Unknown - Restrictions Possible

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Collection title: Nieman Film Collection
Classification: Media Arts-Film and Video

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Walking

Created by: Alston, Charles Henry, American, 1907 - 1977

Medium: oil paint and gesso on canvas
Dimensions: H x W: 48 3/8 x 64 3/4 x 1 1/4 in. (122.9 x 164.5 x 3.2 cm)

Type: oil paintings

Place depicted: Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1958

Caption: Walking recalls the bus boycotts in the 1950s and anticipated the civil rights marches of the 1960s. The work not only depicts the spirit and conviction of the civil rights protests, it also references the significant role of women and youth in the movement.
Description: This colorful, modernist painting depicts women and a young girl walking in front of a long line of others. The figures move out of a shadowy background on the left, towards the light, emanating from the upper right corner. The line appears to be moving forwards, out of the picture plane. The women leading the line step forward strongly to the viewer's right; their leg movements are delineated by the columns of strongly contrasting light and shadow of their long skirts. The leading woman's face is upturned towards the light. Next to and slightly behind her a second female figure, with forward facing gaze, has her right arm around a much smaller female figure. This child figure moves with the line but turns her head to face the viewer, hands folded at the waist. Directly behind them is another female figure carrying a swathed infant. There are several isolated individuals outside the orderly grouping of the line. The line is the focus of their gaze; the nearest individual turns her back on the viewer as she focuses on the line.

Topic: African American; Activism; Art; Children; Civil Rights; Resistance; United States--History--1953-1961; Women

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Sydney Smith Gordon

Object number: 2007.2

Restrictions & Rights: © Charles Alston Estate

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

The Boss

Created by: Polk, P. H., American, 1898 - 1984
Subject of: Unidentified Woman or Women

Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
Dimensions: H x W: 10 x 8 in. (25.4 x 20.3 cm)

Type: gelatin silver prints; portraits

Place captured: Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1932

Description: Silver gelatin photograh featuring an image of African American woman wearing headscarf with her hands placed on her hips.

Topic: African American; Agriculture; Photography; Women

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Delano A. Willis

Object number: 2009.30.1

Restrictions & Rights: © Tuskegee University Archives

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Media Arts-Photography

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

George Washington Carver in Laboratory

Created by: Polk, P. H., American, 1898 - 1984
Subject of: Carver, George Washington, American, 1860s - 1943

Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
Dimensions: H x W (Image and Sheet): 9 7/16 × 7 3/8 in. (24 × 18.7 cm)

Type: gelatin silver prints; portraits

Place captured: Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Date: ca. 1930

Description: Silver gelatin photograh featuring an image of George Washington Carver shown in a laboratory wearing an apron and holding a beaker in his left hand.

Topic: African American; Education; Photography; Science

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Delano A. Willis

Object number: 2009.30.2

Restrictions & Rights: © Tuskegee University Archives

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Media Arts-Photography

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Booker T. Washington

Created by: Battey, C. M., American, 1873 - 1927
Subject of: Washington, Booker T., American, 1856 - 1915

Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
Dimensions: H x W: 9 1/4 x 6 3/4 in. (23.5 x 17.1 cm)

Type: gelatin silver prints; portraits

Place made: Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Date: ca. 1908

Description: A black-and-white print of a bust-length portrait of Booker T. Washington, seated left.

Topic: African American; Education; Photography; Social reform

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2009.37.2

Restrictions & Rights: © Tuskegee Archives

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Media Arts-Photography

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

W.E.B. Du Bois

Created by: Battey, C. M., American, 1873 - 1927
Subject of: W.E.B. Du Bois, American, 1868 - 1963

Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
Dimensions: H x W (Image and Sheet): 13 5/8 × 10 5/16 in. (34.6 × 26.2 cm)

Type: gelatin silver prints; portraits

Place depicted: Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1918

Description: A black-and-white, bust-length portrait of W.E.B. Du Bois. Du Bois has a mustache and wears a bow tie.

Topic: African American; Civil Rights; Photography; Social reform

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2009.37.3

Restrictions & Rights: © Tuskegee Archives

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Media Arts-Photography

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Some Glimpses of Alabama State

Created by: Alabama State University, American, founded 1867

Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions: H x W: 9 x 6 in. (22.9 x 15.2 cm)

Type: yearbooks

Place made: Montgomery, Montgomery County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Date: August 1937

Description: The yearbook for Alabama State's class of 1937. The yearbook consists of black ink on white paper, and is filled with black-and-white photographs. The yearbook has fifteen pages.
Transcription Center Status: Transcribed by digital volunteers

Topic: African American; Education

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2010.54.6

Restrictions & Rights: public domain

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Documents and Published Materials-Published Works

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

The Negro Worker Vol. 2 No. 4

Published by: The Negro Worker, 1928 - 1937
Edited by: Padmore, George, Trinidadian, 1903 - 1959
Subject of: Communist International

Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions: H x W: 8 5/8 x 6 in. (21.9 x 15.2 cm)

Type: pamphlets

Place depicted: China, Asia; South Africa, Africa; Scottsboro, Jackson, Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1932

Description: A pamphlet of black print on yellowed paper. The front cover lists publication information and a list of the articles. The interior consists of thirty-two pages of text and photographs. The back of the pamphlet has an article titled [Solidarity Between Black and White Workers] and a photograph.

Topic: African American; International affairs; Justice; Labor; Mass media; Political organizations; Politics (Practical); United States--History--1919-1933; Violence

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the family of Dr. Maurice Jackson and Laura Ginsburg

Object number: 2010.55.37

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Documents and Published Materials-Published Works; Memorabilia and Ephemera-Political and Activist Ephemera

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

They Shall Not Die!: Stop the Legal Lynching!: The Story of Scottsboro in Pictures

Published by: Workers Library Publishers, Inc., American, founded 1930
Written by: League of Struggle for Negro Rights, American, 1930 - 1935
Illustrated by: Refregier, Anton, Russian American, 1905 - 1979

Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions: H x W: 7 9/16 x 4 15/16 in. (19.2 x 12.6 cm)

Type: pamphlets

Place printed: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
Place depicted: Scottsboro, Jackson County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1932

Description: A pamphlet printed on white paper in black ink with the words “They Shall Not Die! / Stop the Legal Lynching! / The Story of Scottsboro in Pictures” printed at the top. The image at center of the cover depicts a black man and a white man chopping down a tree labeled LYNCHING. The date, publisher and illustrator’s name are listed in the bottom left corner of the pamphlet.

Topic: African American; Civil Rights; Justice; Mass media; Politics (Practical)

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the family of Dr. Maurice Jackson and Laura Ginsburg

Object number: 2010.55.39

Restrictions & Rights: Unknown - Restrictions Possible

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Documents and Published Materials-Published Works; Memorabilia and Ephemera-Political and Activist Ephemera
Exhibition: Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation, 1876-1968
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 2, C 2053

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Untitled

Created by: Dial, Thornton Sr., American, 1928 - 2016

Medium: cloth, rope, carpeting and paint on plywood
Dimensions: 45 x 45 x 1 1/2 in. (114.3 x 114.3 x 3.8 cm)

Type: assemblages (sculpture)

Place made: Bessemer, Jefferson County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1990-1999

Description: This assemblage depicts a striped animal with a long tail. The creature's two front legs are splayed apart, with one stretched out in front and one extended underneath the stomach. The animal's tail is upraised as well as its head, on an elongated neck. Although the animal is viewed from the side, both eyes are on the same visual plane and are visible to the viewer. The animal is barely contained by the square plywood backing; the movement of the limbs is constrained by the borders of the work. The animal is covered in black and white stripes and is outlined in brown. Surrounding the animal is a field of shadowy greens, blacks and browns.

Topic: African American; Art; Race discrimination; Race relations

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Calynne and Lou Hill

Object number: 2010.64.1

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Ten shards of stained glass

Created by: Unidentified
Subject of: 16th Street Baptist Church, American, founded 1873

Medium: stained glass
Dimensions: H x W: 3 5/8 x 1 1/4 in. (9.2 x 3.2 cm)

Type: sherds

Place collected: Birmingham, Jefferson, Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Date: September 1963

Caption: Just two weeks after the march, on September 15, 1963, white supremacists planted a bomb under the steps of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The explosion killed four young girls attending Sunday school. This terrorist act was a brutal reminder that the success of the march and the changes it represented would not go unchallenged. In the face of such violence, the determination to continue organizing intensified. These glass shards are from the church's stained-glass window.
Description: A collection of glass shards collected from the gutter outside the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, at the funeral of the four girls killed in the bombing.

Topic: African American; Civil Rights; Hate crimes; United States--History--1961-1969; Violence

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from the Trumpauer-Mulholland Collection

Object number: 2010.71.1.1-.10

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Religious and Sacred Objects
Exhibition: Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation, 1876-1968
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 2, C 2053

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Shotgun shell found outside the16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham

Created by: Unidentified
Subject of: 16th Street Baptist Church, American, founded 1873

Medium: metal, brass (alloy)
Dimensions: H x W x D: 2 11/16 × 1 × 7/8 in. (6.8 × 2.5 × 2.2 cm)

Type: shells (ammunition)

Place collected: Birmingham, Jefferson, Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Date: September 1963

Caption: Just two weeks after the march, on September 15, 1963, white supremacists planted a bomb under the steps of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The explosion killed four young girls attending Sunday school. This terrorist act was a brutal reminder that the success of the march and the changes it represented would not go unchallenged. In the face of such violence, the determination to continue organizing intensified. These glass shards are from the church's stained-glass window.
Description: A shotgun shell collected from the gutter outside the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, at the funeral of the four girls killed in the bombing. The shell has a blue/green-colored body with brass tip.

Topic: African American; Civil Rights; Hate crimes; United States--History--1961-1969; Violence

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from the Trumpauer-Mulholland Collection

Object number: 2010.71.1.11

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Tools and Equipment-Weapons and ammunition

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Ticket stub for Washington, DC to Montgomery, AL for Selma-Montgomery March

Issued by: Southern Railway Company, American, 1894 - 1990
Used by: Mulholland, Joan Trumpauer, American, born 1941

Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions: H x W: 1 3/4 x 1 3/4 in. (4.4 x 4.4 cm)

Type: ticket stubs

Place depicted: Selma, Dallas County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America; Montgomery, Montgomery County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America; Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America

Date: March 1965

Description: A ticket stub for Washington, D.C. to Montgomery, Alabama. The ticket stub is yellowed paper with black ink and is stapled to a green slip of paper providing dates and context.

Topic: African American; Civil Rights; Local and regional; Transportation; United States--History--1961-1969

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from the Trumpauer-Mulholland Collection

Object number: 2010.71.14

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Memorabilia and Ephemera-Political and Activist Ephemera
Exhibition: Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation, 1876-1968
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 2, C 2053

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sign from a segregated bus station in Birmingham, Alabama

Created by: Unidentified

Medium: plywood and paint
Dimensions: 7 3/8 x 74 7/8 x 1/2 in. (18.7 x 190.2 x 1.3 cm)

Type: signs

Place used: Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Date: ca.1957

Description: This bus station waiting room sign, circa 1957, is from the Birmingham AL, Greyhound Bus Station. It is a standard train or bus station sign from a southern state prior to 1964 restricting the seating of non-white passengers. The sign consists of a piece of plywood painted white with black stenciled text that reads: [ WAITING ROOM / (INTERSTATE AND WHITE INTRASTATE PASSENGERS) ]. The lower right hand corner of the sign has been splintered off.

Topic: African American; Civil Rights; Race relations; Segregation

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA in honor of Dr. James Farmer

Object number: 2011.130

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Memorabilia and Ephemera-Advertisements
Exhibition: Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation, 1876-1968
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 2, C 2053

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Coming Into Montgomery

Created by: Martin, Spider, American, 1939 - 2003
Subject of: Dr. King, Martin Luther Jr., American, 1929 - 1968; King, Coretta Scott, American, 1927 - 2006; Unidentified Man or Men; Unidentified Woman or Women

Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
Dimensions: H x W (Image): 8 1/2 x 13 1/2 in. (21.6 x 34.3 cm); H x W (Sheet): 11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Type: gelatin silver prints

Place depicted: Montgomery, Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1965; printed 1995

Description: A black-and-white photograph of Martin Luther King, Jr. leading marchers into Montgomery, Alabama, during the "Selma to Montgomery" march.

Topic: African American; Civil Rights; Photography

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2011.14.1

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Media Arts-Photography

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

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