Page 367 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - USA

ALABA M A  365

educational oppor- Wedg wood. Yet the most
tunities for African- moving landmarks are those
Americans. The that relate to the city’s African-
school evolved American history. These can be
into Tuskegee seen within walking distance of
University, best the central down town district’s
known for agricul- visitor center, where maps as
turist George well as tours are available.
Washington Carver’s The Birmingham Civil Rights
innovations that Institute uses vintage film
Montgomery’s Civil Rights Memorial Fountain revolutionized footage to explain the city’s Civil
agricultural Rights Movement. Among the
Montgomery is also associated growth in the region. The exhibits is the door of the cell in
with two major figures of 20th- “Tuskegee Airmen,” the group which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
century arts. Local girl Zelda of African- Amer ican pilots who wrote his famous “Letter from a
Fitzgerald and her husband, distinguished themselves in Birmingham Jail,” arguing that
writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, lived World War II, also graduated individuals have the right to
here in 1931, while he was from the institute, now part of disobey unjust laws. Down the
writing Tender is the Night. Their the Tuskegee Airmen National street, the restored Sixteenth
house is now a museum. In 1958, Historic Site. Street Baptist Church stands
country singer Hank Williams as a memorial to four black
played his final concert in the P Tuskegee Airmen girls killed by a Ku Klux
city three days before his death. National Historic Site Klan bomb in 1963.
Williams is buried in Oakwood 1616 Chappie James Ave. To its southeast, in the
Cemetery, and a statue of the ∑ nps.gov/tuai historic Carver Theatre,
singer stands downtown. the Alabama Jazz Hall
f Birmingham of Fame hosts live music
E First White House of * 212,000. ~ £ @ performances and celebrates
the Confederacy n 2200 9th Ave N, the achieve ments of such
644 Washington Ave. Tel (334) 242- artists as Dinah Wash ing-
1861. Open 9am–4pm Mon–Sat (205) 458-8000. Dr. Martin Luther ton, Nat King Cole,
Closed Sun & state hols. The largest city in King Jr. W.C. Handy, and
∑ firstwhitehouse.org Alabama, Birmingham Duke Ellington. At the
E The Scott and Zelda was once the region’s north end of town,
FItzgerald Museum foremost producer of steel. the Alabama Sports Hall of
919 Felder Ave. Tel (334) 264-4222. Cele brating the city’s industrial Fame honors beloved native
Open 10am–3pm Mon–Sat, noon– past is Sloss Furnaces National African-American athletes such
5pm Sun. & ∑ thefitzgerald Historic Landmark, a museum as Joe Louis and Jesse Owens.
museum.org housed in an old steel mill, and
a 55-ft- (17-m-) high iron statue E Birmingham Civil
d Tuskegee of Vulcan, the Roman god of Rights Institute
fire, on the Red Mountain, the 520 16th St N. Tel (205) 328-9696.
* 13,000. @ n 121 Main St, Open 10am–5pm Tue–Sat, 1–5pm
(334) 727-6619. source of the iron ore. Today, Sun. Closed public hols. & (Sun
the city’s attractions include
Former slave Booker T. antebellum houses, botanical free). 7 ∑ bcri.org
Washington founded the gardens, and the acclaimed
Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Birmingham Museum of Art, g Huntsville
Institute here in 1881 to improve with its fine collection of
* 163,000. @ n 500 Church St,
(256) 533-5723. ∑ huntsville.org
Set in northern Alabama, the
cotton market town of Huntsville
developed into a space and
military research and develop-
ment and manufacturing center
after World War II. Home to the
NASA-Marshall Space Flight
Center, the city’s main attractions
are the US Space and Rocket
Center and its bus tours. Exhibits
include Apollo capsules and a
life-size space shuttle. A camp
here also teaches children
George Washington Carver Museum, Tuskegee University about space exploration.

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