Beside the Church Where Four Girls Were Killed in 1963, a New Birmingham Center Asks Visitors: What Will You Do With History?
The 16th Street Education and Visitor Center opens Sept. 15 — the anniversary of the bombing — turning a site of loss into a call for present-day action.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – September 11, 2026 –
Steps from the church where a Ku Klux Klan bomb killed four girls in 1963, a new center opens with a question it wants every visitor to carry home: What will you do with history?
The 16th Street Education and Visitor Center opens Sept. 15 next to 16th Street Baptist Church, on the anniversary of the bombing that killed Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley. That attack became a defining moment in the nation’s fight for civil rights. The new center does more than tell that story. It asks you to act on it.
“Our mission is to take those lessons from the past — the things we’ve learned and cannot forget — and carry them forward to help inform how we need to live and how we create the society we wish for,” said Terrence Brown, Ed.D., the center’s executive director.
Learn. Reflect. Act. Three words shape the entire experience.
You move through spaces built to engage sight, sound and smell. A communal-style restaurant brings the familiarity of gathering around a table. A grand lobby opens onto a two-story interactive “river wall.” There you choose from about 60 commitments — real actions you can take in your own community. Each one is written to be clear to a fourth grader and still challenge an adult.
“We can make what you’ve experienced here at 16th Street not a one-and-done,” Brown said.
Two signature programs anchor the visit. Harmony Group Sing gathers as many as 150 people to sing songs rooted in faith and perseverance. Quilt of Many Hands brings people around quilting tables to share stories, and the finished quilts go to children in foster care.
“One hundred and fifty voices can change the world — or at least change a heart and mind,” Brown said.
Students are central to the mission. Programming aligns with courses of study for grades four through 12, and the center works to lower barriers like transportation and admission costs. College and university partnerships are planned, including work on Wallace A. Rayfield, one of the nation’s earliest licensed Black architects and the architect of 16th Street Baptist Church.
The center is built to welcome everyone. It is ADA compliant. Through a partnership with the nonprofit KultureCity, it adds sensory-inclusive accommodations and staff training. A Spanish-language tour is planned for 2027.
“Some faith, no faith, little faith, no faith at all — you’re welcome,” Brown said.
Five years in the making, the project now shifts from construction to purpose.
“The building is up. Now what are they going to do with it?” Brown said. “For me, that is the transformative part.”
About the 16th Street Educational Enrichment Foundation
The 16th Street Education and Visitor Center is operated by the 16th Street Educational Enrichment Foundation, an organization tied in mission and values to 16th Street Baptist Church but governed separately. The center offers education, arts, community programming and space for reflection beside one of the nation’s most significant civil rights landmarks. Its purpose is simple. Learn from the past. Reflect on its meaning. Act in your own community. For more information, visit https://16thstreetevcenter.com or you can follow the official Facebook page here.
Media Contact
Company Name: 16th Street Education & Visitors Center
Contact Person: Terrence Brown, Ed.D.
Email: Send Email
Phone: 2059094745
Address:1512 6th Ave N Birmingham, AL 35203
City: Birmingham
State: AL
Country: United States
Website: https://16thstreetevcenter.com
