coming up? >> i have a new book that i edited. it came out originally in 1942 e washington about african-americans that interacted with washington. --hought it would be interacted with lincoln. i thought it would be interesting. oxford university printed it. introduction describing the life of the author who was an african-american public school teacher in washington, d.c., the original reception of the book. >> good afternoon afternoon.

thank you for joining us this late on a saturday afternoon. of the executive director us/icomos. panel, us today on the we will be doing brief introductions. glenn eskew from georgia state university who is coordinating the civil rights world heritage nomination. rant leggs -- brent leggs. , and patricia

sullivan. first, a little bit about us/icomos and why i am listed as session, glennis eskew is the architect of this session. i am here to provide context for the significance of the investments of energy taking place. dates back to 1965. we are one of the 110 or so national committees of the international committee of sites.ts and it is most notable for being the scientificthe u.n. and cultural committee. i'm sure you are all roughly familiar with the u.s. heritage list. cultural sites, as opposed to

national sites, comprise more than 70% of the more than 1000 sites on the world heritage list . 23 of those are in the u.s. the vast majority of our national heritage sitess. stephen morris will talk more about the engagement in me program. there is tremendous opportunity for sites of outstanding listed, toalue to be be recognized in the world heritage list. case in point today. it is ironic, because it is the same impulses in the mid-1960's that led to the creation of us/icomos, that led to the creation of icomos, that led to act.national preservation

the same individuals in many cases that can be traced to the of the bedrock programs in the states as well as globally. membership-based nonprofit in washington. we would like to share the best preservation heritage preservation practices with a here to u.s.ce conservation practitioners. the civil rights sites u.s. heritage nomination and the birmingham civil rights national monument are really extraordinarily exciting developments, strongly supported by us/icomos. we all know, this is why you are here, and incredibly important u.s. story and world

heritage as well. possessing, again, outstanding universal value in a term of art in the world heritage program. i want to point out as part of the 50th anniversary celebration , we participated with friends and colleagues with the national park service to produce the u.s. world heritage gap study report to get to the business of moving the needle on the 23 currently listed world heritage nominations. right at the top of the list is this particular nomination. lastly, i would like to say in the last quarter of this year, i am back from travels in africa and india. a longs. story casts shadow around the globe and can be traced directly to

inspirational heritage stories which are being interpreted both in south africa with the story of nelson mandela as well as in the story of mahatma gandhi and the liberation of india can be directly traced. hard at all intellectually to create the case for the outstanding universal value of these stories that we will hear more about. certain irony in the u.s. announcing the withdrawal that would take place at the end of this year. us/icomos is working to mitigate and reduce the affects of on ouroposed withdrawal engagement in the u.s. heritage program. we are very optimistic about

that. these efforts, coordinated by glenn, are complex but essential to elevating this nation's contributions to our shared global heritage. i would like to introduce glenn. >> thank you, very much. shut the door. at the end of my remarks i would like to share a handout that explains in detail the effort creating the nomination of u.s. civil rights sites. before i make remarks on the locations of associated with the civil rights movement in birmingham and elsewhere, i would like to thank

my colleagues for agreeing to be on the panel. hang on. it was working before. as the director of the georgia state university initiative, i head up scholars and his story preservationists developing a the world heritage committee. they call to update the tentative list, besides being considered for nomination, the first step to being inscribed on the list. the office of international

affairs for the national park service wanted to fit the global strategy. 2000 seven 2 independent efforts in alabama responded by preparing materials for preservation. the dossier on dexter avenue king memorial baptist church in montgomery, while director marjorie white compound dossiers baptist6th street church in bethel baptist church in birmingham. since the late 1980's i have been publishing on the civil rights struggle. i joined marjorie to secure national historic landmarks for the 16th street that just churches. when she turned her attention to the world heritage list in 2007 i was brought along as a consultant.

was the beginning of a serial nomination for u.s. civil rights sites and in 2008 added them to the list for the world heritage committee. then the efforts stalled until late 2016 when alabama contracted with georgia state university to launch the world heritage initiative to develop the serial nomination of u.s. civil rights sites. task.a daunting more than 70 scholars for the modern civil rights movement have been consulted, along with preservation is southern states. last april we gathered them at us and posey and held on the georgia state university campus in atlanta. held on theosium georgia state university campus in atlanta. considered

discrimination in general, or specifically around the historical discrimination against african americans. peerage. movementcivil rights lacks a clear chronology, while others recognize the 1950's and 1960's as a modern civil rights movement. we focused on the struggle to overturn racial segregation and second-class citizenship in the areas targeted by the modern african-american freedom struggle. cited threehat we studies conducted by the national park service. civil rights in america, education,on in desegregation in accommodation

and voting rights. we considered the 2008 civil rights in america a framework for his identifying significant sites. using these nps studies and recommendations we developed a list of 100 historic sites related to the race reform movement in the postwar era that received some federal designation, with the highest being that of national historic landmark. the working list for potential sites for consideration to propose for inscription on the world heritage list. in atlanta, the suppose he him -- the symposium attendees of the the consideration responses of a larger group of scholars who had been consulted and asked to identify sites that they thought of as most important in telling the story

of the movement. gap studies make clear, the world heritage committee is eager to increase the size of conscious and memory that their witness to human rights abuses including genocide , slavery, and violations of freedom. a side of conscious is a public site, museum, or memorial that serves as a memory of a to relatepast used with contemporary issues. the castles of the slave trade in ghana, the auschwitz extermination camp in poland were among the earliest places that were inscribed as sites of conscience. racialhe struggle for justice in america and that the properties are visited by civil

rights programs around the world, these places joined other global sites of conscious. , they serve, like the transatlantic slave trade sites in rio de janeiro and off the coast of senegal, as a reminder of human exploitation and sanctuary for reconciliation. like robben island off cape town where south africa imprisoned and i apartheid activists. like independence hall in philadelphia where the founding fathers framed a republic based on equality for all, they represent the universal principles of freedom and democracy. the serial nomination represents black people in the united states against racial segregation and for first-class

citizenship. it is organized around criteria 6., and argueserchange of idea the racially separate and unequal spaces resulted in complex over white supremacy and racially quality. african-americans -- racial equality. african-americans protested in order to gain equal access to public accommodations in such theaters, hotels, restaurants, and transportation on buses, trains, and planes. civil rights organizations filed lawsuits against state and local governments to remove the emblematic jim crow white/colored signs from public parks and facilities dismantling the separate entrances to buildings and

inequalities in the environment. though, in some cases, shadows past remain.lized demands for black political empowerment convinced the federal government to end the measures and secure black voting rights in the south. -- black-owned the african-american church housed the modern movement, provided most of the leadership and supporters, and nurtured a tradition of resistance to white supremacy that began in slavery activismnues through such as black lives matter. demonstrating criteria three, testimony to cultural tradition, the modern movement challenged exceptionalism and privilege with a counter narrative, upheld the ideas of democracy and human rights as

enshrined in the u.s. declaration of independence, constitution, and u.s. that -- and universal declaration of human rights. in the 1950's and 1960's african-americans staged a series of protests over racial discrimination in the public sphere through events like the montgomery bus boycott of 1955 to 1956, the greensboro citizens of 1960. the freedom rides in 1961. in 1963 birmingham demonstrations and the march on washington. the voting rights campaigns. the selma to montgomery march in 1965. the montgomery fight for the 1968justice and poor people's campaign. the properties of the serial nomination represent criterium , universal significance, the

challenge to the color line of these particular places led to such reform as the brown versus the board of education decision of 1954 which resulted in the desegregation of public schools. the voting rights act of 1960 five, which provided african-americans equal right to the political system. fair housing act to end discrimination in housing. all civil rights sites find their origin in racial segregation. it results in the toppling of legal white supremacy and drew global attention to the historic landmarks rise above the rest as events of universal significance that ushered in an american ideology of racial equality and human rights struggles the world over. they were intergroup to -- they

gral.inter already on the tentative list that though baptist church contributed many of the members for the alabama christian movement for human rights that staged the bus boycotts, that supported the citizens in the 1960's, and let the birmingham campaign in 1963. because it symbolized the indigenous movement, the cloak looks clan targeted the alabama baptist with the bombing that girls getting ready for sunday school in 1963. the previous spring, 16th street house protests across the street. these anchor the related sites

including the ag gaston motel and other sites that comprised the boundaries of the new birmingham national civil rights monument. i will hand out this. >> good afternoon.

my name is brent leggs. african-american cultural heritage action fund assistant professor at the university of maryland. i thought i would start by sharing my personal story. historic preservation practitioner. different from a traditional historian. kentucky.the duke a, we did not talk about the value of preserving old buildings around the dinner table. when i was searching for my professional identity, i thought i will get a phd in history. phd inht about getting a philosophy and realized you had to be fluent in a second

language, so i scrapped that. i learned there is a furniture making class, and i thought it would be cool to use my creative spirit. i ran into the dean of the program preservation and he convinced me to go into the graduate preservation program. for my research assistantship they asked me to conduct an inventory of rosenwald schools in kentucky. have you heard of rosenwald schools? it is a massive school building program developed by booker t. washington at tuskegee university funded by philanthropist rosenwald who is the president of sears and roebuck. they constructed 5000 schools and 15 southern states. they are the physical manifestation and response to a social movement, crisis of a

social movement, in black education here during the process i learned my mom and dad went to rosenwald schools and i had a connection to the past like never before. i remember walking into a school building and i had the multi sensory experience. there was a transcendent quality about historic preservation. that is what i want to talk to you about. ournational trust, signature program is called national tr treasures. trust partners with community and property owners for 2-5 years to remove an impending threat to a nationally significant building and identify solutions for the preservation of those places. i want to give you a quick

overview. in patterson, new jersey, this is the home field of larry dauphine who integrated after jackie robinson. i'm proud to say that through the national treasure campaign we designated it as a national historic landmark and included it in the boundaries of the national park. it is preserved in perpetuity. founder library at howard university in washington, d.c. i love about this space is that it was designed by an early pioneering lack architect who architect forty decades at howard university. it has an unknown story of civil rights. at one point, howard's

law school was housed inside this building. this is where charles hamilton houston and thurgood marshall devised a legal strategy that would lead to the integration of america's public schools. working with the university to develop a plan to reimagine this outdated library space. mary, how many of you have heard of it? i learned a polly mary two years ago. raised in, who was north carolina, would be a cofounder of the national organization of women, the first african-american episcopal site. thurgood marshall referred to bible of -- he a reuse strategy.

the plan is to convert this into the polly mary center for us justice. we supported them in restoring the exterior of the building. madam cj walker. how many of you have heard of madam cj walker? cj walker is america's first self-made female millionaire. she created a formula to help african-american women's hair grow and be healthy. she would train 23,000 sales agents and workers in the united states, south america, and the caribbean in 1918 before women had a right to vote. she built a monument in new york, the most expensive zip code in the united states. this is on the same street as

letters. in may 2017 trust provided exterior and partial interior protection to ensure that it is preserved forever. are 2 of the newest national treasure campaigns. claiborne temple where dr. king had his last stands with the sanitation workers march. the community center in chicago, buildings from the public works administration when they funded the creation of several community arts centers around the united states. birmingham. tohave the good fortune partner with the city of birmingham in 2015. we were introduced to this

a doctor at the african-american museum of culture. and that national birmingham civil rights institute. they wanted to make the national trust aware of an impending threat to partially demolish half of the aging gaston -- the aging gaston the -- the ag gaston motel. right,look to the far the city has proposed to develop what they were calling the freedom center. a lecture hall, so they could attract visitors from across the nine at states to have theersations about -- united states to have conversations about the civil rights legacy. -- wewanted to help wanted to help secure national recognition. you cannot destroy and demolish a building of this significance,

especially if your vision is to secure that level of international recognition. is,eautiful as this concept and it speaks to the potential of reuse, that they shifted million thethe $10 city had bonded for the new construction is being used to fully restore the entire ag gaston motel building. i love these images. this is from the spring of 1963. it is dr. king and the foot soldiers where they convened from the courtyard of the ag gaston motel. it was constructed in 1954 by the most prominent african-american business professional of the day. he had several businesses. this was one of his iconic

masterpieces. i bet he never imagined when he built this in 1954 in the spring of 1963 the american civil rights movement would occupy the entire motel. the other image is from may 10, 1963. this is the truce between white business leaders and the civil rights leaders to end the mass protest demonstration of that spring. as we started to work with coalition to grade that national monument, what is the significance? what story where we looking to tell by preserving the motel? as you heard from glenn and will, the significance in birmingham is 1963 and 1960 four.

it is those activities that would integrate birmingham's public life and be a catalyst for the 1964 civil rights act. ag image on the left is gaston. the other image is fred shuttlesworth. you can see that we had to build a complex and coordinate a coalition of partners. the key partner, and there are more, is the city of birmingham. of course, the national trust of historic preservation and we had to work with the national park service, the department of the interior, and support from the national parks conservation association. these are the buildings included within the boundaries of the new national monument. congresswoman terry so was the -- terri sewell started the

process for creating the national monument. i have to give her a shout out. is probably the most significant congressional leader at this moment to advocate for funding in the preservation of civil rights landmarks in alabama and across the united states and the civil rights funding from the national park service for the last two years was secured because of her leadership. glenn, bethelrom baptist church. kelly ingram park, where a lot of the protests took place. if you visit birmingham and tour the park, they have done a good leveraging our to interpret the story. building hosted the black

professionals of the day, from the dentist, to the lawyer, to the naacp. what i think is powerful about this story is that this building was designed by robert taylor, america's first professional black architect. graduate fromk m.i.t. would help to start the architecture program at tuskegee university. this is one of the finest examples of urban commercial design in the united states and retained a significant level of architectural integrity. it has been vacant for 20 years and the property owners are entering into a codevelopment agreement to redevelop the site. sixteenth street baptist church. we all know about the events that happen there in september of 1963. lesser-known story is that this building was designed by rachel wallace, the second professional black architect in america.

one of his best examples of both residential and religious architecture. with theeen working church, not only in creating the national monument, but helping them to reimagine reuse of the building which they would like to turn into an interpretive center. birmingham civil rights institute. if you have not had a chance to tour this space, i hope you do. 58,000 square-foot museum. their 25thlebrating anniversary. even though they are not thenically historic, building, you need to be 50 years to be historic, they received special consideration because of their leadership as an anchoring institution across the district. -- byuilding was designed

max bond, a second generation of pioneering black architects. i have yet to find a commercial district in the united states with the diversity of significant historic buildings that have been designed by black architects that tell the story of activism, black architecture, as well as achievement. gaston officee building is not included within the proclamation and considered a contributing structure as part of the national monument, it is considered nationally significant as part of the civil rights historic district. i wanted to show you this building. had thewhere ag gaston headquarters for his business is constructed in 1960. the finest example of midcentury architecture in birmingham. it is vacant and we are

supporting the property owner in developing a preservation plan for its reuse. some of the keys to success, the first thing that we needed to do was complete a historic structures report. for those who don't know what a the bible of the building. it assesses the change over time. it evaluates the historical fabric within a building. it includes structural, environmental, and cost assessments. this was key to make an argument to the national park service that the building was significant and worthy of being included as a unit of the national parks system. we work with a consultant to prepare reuse study and business plan. the national park service is struggling to respond to years of deferred maintenance in the billions.

they are looking for innovative and creative partnership models. we wanted to advocate for a co-stewardship agreement. the solution is that the national park service all of the 1954 section of the motel. birmingham retains ownership of the 1968 version of the motel. the will share stewardship responsibility of caring for the site in perpetuity. creating the national monument, you cannot do this without having by and from the public, .ocally and nationally we created a sophisticated public relations campaign that included the march for birmingham, which was on august 28 last year. initial planning for the march in washington took place in the ag gaston motel. eventssynergy in those

in birmingham. it is to remind citizens about the rich history that surrounds them. it was a fun event. we marched around the civil rights district and concluded with a concert by grammy award-winning artists. in closing, i want to share good news. the national trust in november of 2017 launched a new initiative called the african-american cultural heritage action fund. we are committed to raising $25 million to preserve african historic places in the united states and our own programmatic work to do more of what i just showed. we would love to continue to identify new national treasures that allow us to tell the full american story, to scale up work

that helps youth learn , toervation trade skills expand the interpretation of black history and our own collection of sites, and create a $12 million national grant program to support the preservation of these important cultural landscapes and projects that are some of the most underfunded in the country. if you have a project in mind, our window for receiving letters of inquiry poses on january 31. you can go to our waves -- our website. thanks, so much. [applause] >> i do not have a powerpoint.

you will just have to look at this slide for the next 15 minutes or so. my name is stephen morris, chief of the international affairs office for the national park service. i think that my role is to discuss the world heritage program itself, and how it works in the united states, and give you background. let me say that i think that our office, the international affairs office at the national park service, came into contact eskew in 2006-2007. it is a pleasure to see it gaining steam now. the world heritage convention is an international treaty that was adopted by the conference of

in 1972. the united states was the first to sign the treaty in 1973 in the nexen administration. currently, i think every country in the planet has signed up. it is the most successful international conservation treaty in existence. the world heritage nomination is made by the government of the united states. there is a formal process for making decisions about what to include in a nomination and whether or when to make a nomination. there is very little funding in the national park service to support development. there is really no funding. there's funding for my office for oversight and guidance, but nominations have to raise the funds and develop the nominations. kew and the support he

is getting from alabama is making this possible. assistant for a national heritage program is a political appointee. folks in my office that work in this program are career employees. as i mentioned, our role is at the staff office for the program and to oversee the development of nominations. the outcome of a nomination is decided by the world heritage committee, 21 countries that are elected on a rotating basis. they meet once a year to review proposals from all over the world that has been submitted by their respective governments. in the cases of cultural sites was are proposed, as mentioned, the international council on monuments and sites advises the committee on whether the nomination submitted meet

the criteria and should be added to the world heritage list. a world heritage nomination must define the outstanding universal uv, that shows how the nominated properties as a group have global significance, particularly for serial nominations. proposed for the civil rights nomination. it must show properties included are critical to the global significance. obviously, this will be a much smaller group then all properties associated with the civil rights movement, of which there are probably several hundred or maybe even 1000. we will be focusing on the key properties, a small group of 10-12. not even the most important in any given state. the world heritage selection

criteria works differently than those for the national register of historic places or at the national historic landmarks program in the u.s. one of the challenges is they make it difficult to nominate properties solely on the important ideas. eskew's dr. presentation using different criteria to make the case. making the case that whatever properties are selected to be together have global significance and can respond to the criteria. there are a number of challenges. referred to defining the civil rights movement in time and geography. what phase of the civil rights movement will we focus on? we need to be able to make a clear rationale as to why we are

focusing on that phase and not a of history.d the nomination needs to describe the outstanding universal value in a way that meets criteria that looks beyond u.s. history alone and does not take for granted how it is viewed around the world. i think this, in terms of not taking it for granted, needs to go beyond just celebrating this accomplishment of what happened as a result of the movement. it needs to be sensitive to how the movement itself was influenced by what was going on in other countries and how there was a reciprocal influence to other countries from the civil rights movement in the u.s. in relation, the nomination needs a detailed comparative analysis that looks at other places around the world with similar values related to human rights movements or do you solve robben island and some of the

other sites of conscience, and perhaps the women's suffrage movement. other social movements can be compared to the civil rights movement be a clear criteria to identify properties that contribute mostmovement in? there needs to be a comparative framework for international significance. there needs to strongly to the global significance of the series. it must contain a justification for why each property is included. and also, properties not included that others may think are included, we have to justify why they were not included. we have learned difficult lessons working on another serial nomination in terms of being questioned on the selection of the properties. we need to have a very convincing case as to why certain properties were included and others were not.

the other factors in selecting the properties include national e, the owners all have to agree in writing to having their properties included , there must be high integrity and authenticity. if the property has been significantly altered, that will be a problem here this setting has to be included. not just the building. it has to include the setting around it. there has to be strong legal protection. high bar for including properties. additionally, properties have to develop and articulate an active management system among themselves linked to the outstanding years or so value -- outstanding universal value. the nature of the system will depend on which properties are included, how they are run, etc. . we need to define how and by

whom the system will be maintained. for the other serial nomination we are working on day have an association of all of the owners of the buildings that have essentially incorporated under a 501(c)(3). we will need to see what kind of system we can document to show that these properties, since they will be a single world heritage site, the world heritage committee expects them to be managed as a group. the individual sites will need to have their own management plans as well that focus on reserving the elements that support the outstanding universal value. to give you a sense of the process, our office recommends and his team get advice from the national secretariat of like a mouse -- comos.

we need early and put from the international council on monuments and sites to make sure they are on board with the property selected. this, the department of the interior must approve adding other sites to the candidate list. there is a separate process for adding sites to that tentative list. has beens group included on the tentative list, , withsistant secretary the advice of the federal interagency panel for world heritage, may consider formally authorizing preparation for a world heritage nomination. that is the preparation of nomination. probably a year or more down the road for nomination like this.

the previous work that has been going on now is considered unofficial. this nomination has not been officially blessed. when the nomination has been drafted with input and advice from my office and the interagency panel, they will aet again to make recommendation to the assistant secretary as to whether it submitted. when a nomination is submitted, the world heritage center since the document to icomos to conduct a detailed review, including site visits to all of the properties. icomos will make a recommendation to the world heritage committee whether to approve a nomination or recommend that it is approved. it is a daunting process. it takes years to develop the nominations and a significant amount of money.

it is not a foregone conclusion that what the united states nominates will be automatically inscribed on the world heritage list. over the 30 years of nominations made by the u.s., we had several very which is disappointing to the people that have put so much time and effort into it. it is a very challenging process, but i think that there to tryod team in place to get this one going to get this one going. we are keeping our fingers crossed that it will be a success. [applause] >> good afternoon. i am patricia sullivan. i have participated as a historical advisor on this project and was at the meeting

of historians and preservationists to think about how we define civil rights and identify properties to be nominated for this designation. my comments this afternoon, for me as a teacher, historian, civil rights movement, i am thinking about, what was the civil rights movement about, significance? being a part of this process, thinking about the global significance, this moment has been rewarding and helped me to pull together many of the projects i worked on over my academic career. i have a few comments that opens the lens and helps us think about, what was the civil rights movement? you see it as images that unfold

over a decade. the american civil rights a historically defined event, was centered in the southern united states. they organized in opposition to the legally mandated racial caste and disenfranchisement. it rose to international prominence in the 1950's and 1960's and secure the most legislative achievements of the civil rights act of 1964, 1965, politics inamerican a significant way. , and i wasltaneously on a panel this morning, about the kerner commission report. the north ands west and entrenched segregation came to the fore.

and defined the latter part of the 1960's. the civil marking rights movement ended marking and thetive politics beginnings of a mass incarceration state which we are aware of thanks to the number of major works. in light of the president social, political, and racial on the civilfocus rights movement and the global significance is timely. the significance of the civil rights movement resides in a transformative power of a movement built on a vision of justice, human rights, and freedom that unfolded across the middle decade of the 20th changed america in fundamental ways, even as it exposed america's racist

past. it maintained a power as struggle for civil rights and justice endure. churches, court houses, polling stations, mark the places where ideas about justice, equality, and human rights cohere into a movement that resisted and challenged a violent caste system that had grown up in the south in the wake of emancipation. from our current perspective, often when we teach about history, the movement seems probable, almost inevitable. from the vantage point of 1940's america, it seemed unimaginable. places are central to telling the story about how such a movement was imagined, organized, articulated, contested, and sustained.

said, castinglenn it in a different historical frame, framing it historically it is useful to think of the 1930's to the 1954, then the mid-1950's to 1968. race and democracy, a book 25 years ago, said it is useful to think of this not as a prelude that as a first act in a 2 act play. i was delighted to see howard university law school rejected their because i think it has gotten that as a first act in a 2 act lost. where weave a space can talk about the role of charles houston and thurgood marshall, who this room is named for. their foundational roles in the u.s. civil rights movement. the humanderstood

desire for justice represents "a powerful drive at a time when there are only a of well-prepared black lawyers in the south, charles houston transformed howard into a laboratory for civil rights law. stanley nelson has a wonderful about black colleges called "tell them we are rising." he talks about howard as an incubator of the civil rights movement. men in where young black the 1930's had a physical and intellectual space to prepare for protracted assault from jim

crow. we don't want to lose sight of what is happening during this period and think of ways to capture this during the 1930's and 1940's. this is part of a broader democratic struggle of the new deal era, where people in the margins of american politics helped to shape the reach of the democratic reforms of that period. activist, labor organizers. they connected. they had sort of a global perspective on things. these parallel activities and movements were part of the environment that shaped the civil rights movement during these formative years. i teach in columbia, south carolina. there is a major site where a number of these individuals came together in 1946.

of 1946. 1800 students, black and white, met in the township auditorium. bob dylan had a recent concert october,there coming through to. begun byete the task our forefathers during the civil war and reconstruction period." their keynote speaker was w.e.b. dubois, a key architect of civil rights struggles in this country, and someone connected to friends across the world. he delivered a speech at benedict college. african-american colleges come up as so important in laying the foundation of being displaced where people can come together. he looked too young people in the region to expose the barbarities that prevailed. he urged them to lift the better of humanity and face each other

as equal independent human beings, if it takes all of your lives, and the lives of your children's children. called the long haul. dubois noted that while democracy was a sham -- he talked about colonialism and world war ii -- she said called. here in the south t laid the path to a greater and freer world. the sit-ins would show the promise that he saw when he came to columbia. dubois submitted a petition to the u.n. a statement of denial of human rights to minorities and appeal to the united nations for redress. claiming a global platform for demanding human rights, and exposing the denial of those

rights here. the history that is lost maybe in this backlash and repression of the cold war years -- i should mention louis burnham was situated in birmingham. in 1951, dubois himself was handcuffed and arrested for his actions in the peace institute. birmingham has been a center previous to the 1960's. these activists are such unimportant part of this history. houston --cance of embraced anduch

sustained. the legal struggle forwards in the embraced and sustained. the legal struggle forwards in the courts under the radar -- the courthouse is so important. robert talked about the court as robert talked about the court as a theater, where african-americans would come into these spaces, like jackson embraced andwatch him interrogate the superintendent. these spaces that facilitated this kind of activity was foundational to what followed. this bridgegard, from the work they did in the 1930's and 1940's. clarendon county was a community that responder to the efforts of houston. thurgood marshall took over as director of the legal effort.

someone who teaches in south carolina -- clarendon county is so important. it was the first case tried in a serious cases -- series of cases that comprised brown. it came out is a majority poor black community. for these families to go into court and make demands for their children really risked everything. everyone lost their livelihoods. and you risked your lives as well. it was a great scene, as thurgood marshall describes, outside the federal courthouse in charleston. a beautiful building, still there, where they are trying the briggs case. in 1951. they arrived in the morning -- i wish i had a slight of this

beautiful courthouse. lawyers arrived, 1951. and 500 people the are lined up down the stairs, out and around the courtroom building. this is the end of may. they stood there all day while the lawyers trying to their case. they acted as a human telegraph. the lawyer made a good point, it would travel out of the group. thurgood marshall noted seeing these people waiting in the heat and 500 people all day, he knew they were going to win, because the people would carry on. to to demand asnue lawyers took these cases up to the supreme court. from marshall -- "negroes from third and county shoulderoulder to showing that they are determined

to eliminate segregation from american life." the ground ruling followed three years later, and was a culmination of this decade-long battle rooted in communities along the south and energized by the politics of the 1930's and 1940's. brown, but thew legacy of brown and how it is documented is essential in telling the story within our own communities and country and globally. your it is a powerful and enduring lesson. iteshigh points -- and the s selected and proposed resonate with some of the major battles of the southern movement montgomery like the

bus montgomery bus boycott. the importance of churches -- mass meetings. albany be in the place where the music of the movement is coming out of these sacred spaces and places. we talk about heritage -- and to be reminded as we reinterpret these spaces. thinking about the church bombing just after the march on washington. the terror people faced, the struggle, the violence -- it really underscores the remarkable nature and the power of this movement and where it came from. at again, you look individuals who go and observe the south. james baldwin goes south after

the brown decision after he sees young people walking through just to go to school. he had to talk to them and understand how families could do that. he traveled south in 1957 and talked to some families. 1960it-in movementthinking in amplified the struggle. that is an aspect of the -- people knowe about the civil rights movement that really stands out. a lot of great visuals and accounts of what happened there. this period leading up to birmingham, which is such a critical turning point for the country -- to think of the ebba

nd flow of what people experienced going into these .laces .hen the sit-inthen spreading to when the sit-ins happened, 4 students going, then hundreds, hundreds of other cities within six weeks. remarkedporter students all across the south are on the march, a movement the likes of which the united states has not seen before. where is it coming from? black colleges. one reporter concludes that, if you want to stop it, you've got to close down these colleges. those are places that are essential. -- we have the

freedom riots the next year. freedom riots, thinking about the legal and mass protest. historians are so discounted -- it is the lawyers, it is the no, the courts were an essential no, the courts were an essential part. the thurgood marshall case overturned segregation to open the way for court. the time was ripe, and it was the freedom march. this took the lid off things. a massive violence and counter outside of atrial way bus station, which is now a historic site and a terrific museum. 61.t is 19

there has been activity all over the south. can showal places that turning points and television of the movement beyond the local. -- and elevation of the movement beyond the local. spotlighting the violence and lawlessness all the way up to the governor. beyond thean important movementn educating the kennedy administration about what they were facing in the south. ith serving him -- in early said, i think the story is over, i think the country has lost interest. a reporter went back to report for time magazine. the person he was replacing said,, i think the story is over, i think the country has lost interest. done. the country did not this story b

onto this. all of these instances, public attention. but birmingham was tremendously important. what happened there? what was broadcast across the country and the world, and the reactions of america -- of african-american communities across the country? for kennedy, it was a concern, and rightly so. warned that time was running out. the explosive nature of those living under segregation. amplifies really that.

robert kennedy and others who were aware enough helped mobilize this kind of energy they needed to push the civil rights bill. that. robert kennedy and others who john f. kennedy gives a remarkable speech on june 11, 1963, preparing to introduce the civil rights bill. he talks about the national dimensions ofdimensions of raci. talks about over 100 years of delay since the emancipation proclamation, the slaves not yet freed from social and economic oppression. for all its hopes andjohn f. ke, this nation will not be fully free until all of its citizens are free. of course that night after midnight, medicare evers is -- down invers is gunned his driveway in jackson, mississippi. that summer, john f. kennedy, who like many in his generation, had been brought up in the dunning school to

reconstruction, after medgar , ohs was assassinated, said my goodness, i believe studies stevens is correct. stevens is correct. that definition of freedom is correct. the sentiment all over the country is explosive. people are not going to wait much longer. getting on bill through congress takes time. the march on washington, an amazing moment, but weeks later the bombing of the 16th street baptist church, killing those four girls. the civil rights bill is passed in july of 1964. freedom.e summer of

civil rights workers killed at the beginning of the summer. it is really a battlefield. i think what is so significantly on this moment is the capacity for people to carry on and continue to fight for this and risk so much to create the change. selmating rights act, is really the culminating moment of the civil rights movement in this country in terms of getting the lost to enforce -- getting the laws to enforce the 13th and 14the amendments. at the same time, you have the inntry moving beyond demands in the south to face the problems of segregation, police brutality, and the rest.

essay,d said in a good what happened to the civil rights movement? the civil rights movement moved north. there are many great studies that show in the aftermath of the voting rights act, people in southern communities are onowered into voting, war poverty programs in the rest -- just transforming the face of the south and the political climate. again, changing the country in ways it was still grappling with. fromt to pose a quote august wilson that i use quite often. i think it is a reminder to all of us to turn our sites south in terms of our history, this country's history, and in terms of an enduring struggle for

human rights in what it takes. what eache of change, generation inherits to carry it forward. he mentions of this in 1891. he was directing his comments to young african-american. ushink it applied to all of concernedterested and about the struggle for justice and human rights, and the significance of this southern-based movement. "black americans need to go back and make the concerned about the struggle for justice connection that we allowed to be severed when we move from the south to the north. the culture growing in the southern part of the united states for 200 some years we more or less abandoned. we have a situation where kids don't know who they are because they can't make a connection and their grandparents,

therefore their connection with political history in america." thank connection that [applause] >> you. now we do have about 10 minutes for some q&a, if we have any. now we do have about 10 minutes for some q&a, if we have any. let's thank our panelists for taking us through the presentation and reemphasizing the incredible importance of elevating and stewarding these compelling stories, and how too ls like the world heritage list, the national monuments program designation, the national treasurer's program, the african-american heritage cultural action fund, are really incredibly valuable tools toward not end -- toward that end. do we have any questions? i would remind you we are being televised live, so if you have a question or comment, please come

to the mic so you can be heard clearly. please come to the mic in the aisle. could you identify yourself? umass amherst. umass amherst. i admired the chronological focus and geographical focus, which as i know required in this nomination. also what i admire is the way you use this to exemplify something much larger and more global. what stephen morrison said. you have someone that goes to jail because he does not want to pay his poll now we do have abo0 tax to expand for slavery. thoreau.s inspired by

this global conversation that can very birmingham,how this in two years and a couple square birmingham, in two years and a couple square miles, really exemplifies. >> would you care to respond? >> that is dirty business. >> birmingham that is an excellt observation. uses simply connected -- you succinctly connected those strands of protest. is civil rights movement is informed by the struggles in india, which were informed by the resistance of thoreau, or the efficacy of tolstoy and other proponents of nonviolent resistance. out of birmingham will come

support for other nonviolent protests around the globe. the civil rights movement is being seen as being inspirational to protests into 's the 1980's with the tearing of the berlin wall or the protests in tiananmen square. for the streets of birmingham to be the site in america that protest was brought home to the world was a really significant thing. on to thet to add rationale why you would therefore than create a national rights monument in birmingham? what are theking, opportunities for identifying the resources, both nationally and internationally, to sustain the stewardship of these cultural landscapes? i think there are a lot of scholars at this table and the

conference that fully understands the depth and beauty and complexity of this history. we need more advocates with the resources that can help us on the preservation side of things. when you were discussing stewardship planning, and a coalition of partners for these spaces, the national trust would love to help convene and organize that with partners, again nationally and internationally. so if you know of those, please let me know. >> do we have another question or comment? please. >> i am a phd student at american university. of people of color in the united states is frought this losses in addition to gains.

i was wondering if there are any programs to preserve spaces of absence, not where things were lost, but where things were never there to begin with. ms. sullivan: that is, i think, a really important observation. you think of doing oral histories. who do we talked? -- we talk to? we talked to people who remember. what about the people that were traumatized by their-- we talk e of the movement? i think it is very important to think about how to do that. there is an interpreter frame, right? that could be included. history -- ithis

is inspiring, but also the loss, the tragedy, what it took. tha needst to be part of the story. that amplifies the significance of what was gained. all of us in this work need to think about ways to do that. to add, this going is sort of a commercial for an upcoming conference in charlottesville in march, on best practices in interpreting the legacy of slavery. it is not exactly responding to the question that you have, but the presentations -- it is being sponsored by the thomas jefferson foundation, university of virginia.

ofwill run the gamut coming to the modern era. intangible heritage will definitely be part of the presentations. that may be a place to of go to modern hear more about what's going on. ms. sullivan: one other thing to theon is that in april, equal justice initiative on lynching will open in go to hear montgomery, cataloging the atrocities that took place throughout the south. i think that is a part of respondent to her comment. such aeems in a way challenge to think about movement that is so complex it has so many historical phenomenon over such a decades, involving so many actors over different places, and we are

trying to squeeze it into 10 or 12 properties. some might say you are doing it a disservice. inscribedmination is list, thatd heritage will be the rising tide that lifts all boats -- i don't know. that will reverberate and illuminate some parts of the story that we could not really include. >>that was our motivation for creating birmingham. literally birmingham as a national monument boundary is within four blocks of a civil rights district. understanding we could not identify and include all of the fights connected to birmingham list, thats will be the rising activity. but it does elevate the story that needs our support.

mr. pencek: having said that, give information if those in the audience are interested in connecting, is there a place where they can connect? this you are interested in effort to create serial nomination of civil rights sites. georgia state university has a site that shows periodic efforts of our support. it is world heritage.gsu.edu. itage.gsu.edu.er you you access the site, you for an e-blastp

list, and we will inform you on any opportunities. we had a great conference in for an e-blast list,washington put together wie national parks service through e-blasts.se i think we were one of the first to advertise brent's trust and the cultural heritage action fund. mr. pencek: where should folks go? >> to learn about the newly created birmingham civil rights national monuments, you can literally just googled the name or go to the national parks website. if you want to know more about the motel treasure campaign that we concluded in december, you can go to the national trust website at www .savingplaces.org/nationaltreasu res.

i want to close by acknowledging president obama's leadership. through the use of the antiquities act of 1906, he helped create more national monuments that tell the story of people of color in the united states. in the last week before office -- he designated three new offices, including birmingham. i want to acknowledge congressman sewall, congressman mayorn, and newly named randall woodson for his -- mayor randall woodfin for his help in realizing this monument. >> i would like to thank congressman john lewis for his efforts through the national to designate civil rights sites as well. mr. pencek: thank you all.

>> [applause] mr. pencek: to designate civil rights and thank you all. >> we need to get a picture.