Civil Rights Memorial
The Civil Rights Memorial Center extends the commemoration of the said memorial which honors the memory and the exploits of the individuals who risked their lives during the period of the Civil Rights movement. Apart from the uniquely modern exhibits it displays and the martyrs of the movement, the center also features a 56-seat theatre. It serves as a classroom too for a lot of helpful activities meant to push education and a certain section of it features the Wall of Tolerance.
Anyone can be guided around it for hourly tours either by appointment or as regularly scheduled. It operates between 9am to 4pm on weekdays and 1oam to 4pm during Saturdays. Admission charges $2 for the adults while kids under 17 are free of charge.
The mentioned Wall of Tolerance holds the names of the mighty people who have sworn to fight against intolerance, hate and injustice. Every person who adds their name to the said wall creates a commitment to maintain justice in their everyday lives along with standing up for equality and the upholding of human rights. These are the very same ideals which the martyrs risked their lives for when the movement died out.
For those who have committed to pledge for those rights in the memorial’s national campaign for tolerance are able to search their names with the use of a control panel. Every visit that you do can give you a chance to take your own pledge on the Wall of Tolerance. The very memorial center was the very same place that the dedication speech for the modern heroes was delivered.
It has always been hoped for that the waters coming from this fountain would create circles of hope as well that would extend even to the coming generations. As the center was conceptualized in year 1988 to honor the victims and heroes of the Civil Rights Movement, it was Maya Lin who was thought of by Eddie Ashworth, a board member, to design the memorial.
Seven years ago, Maya was just a 21 year old senior at Yale who was picked in a national competition to have the privilege to design the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. That was a place considered to be full of healing, where as defined by one veteran was where the living and the dead could even possibly meet.
According to Lyn, it was during her flight to Montgomery that she got the inspiration for the design. Across her tedious research, she read through some lines from the Book of Amos which said until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.
She said that the moment she read the quote she knew that the entire design have to deal with water and then everything took form and shape as she designed it in a restaurant in Montgomery. She made her whole sketch on a paper napkin. It was also during the dedication of the memorial that the documentary film made for Maya Lin’s work was being shot.