Took a group of high schoolers to this museum and was worried that they would find it boring. Quite the opposite! They wished we could stay longer than our 2 hours there because of all the interesting exhibits. This was a great place to visit no matter what your age. We enjoyed it very much and appreciated all the history. It was especially moving to see the acutal cell bars that MLK Jr. was held behind.

This is a terrific and moving museum experience that really opens the visitor's eyes about the history of the African American experience and the civil rights movement in Alabama, and particularly the segregation and struggles in Birmingham. It has lots of video and film exhibits and many sculptures, artworks, photos, timelines, architectural displays, and other innovative museum exhibits. For example, there is an authentic burned out (from bombing) Greyhound bus that was used by the Freedom Riders.

Across the street is Kelly Ingram Park with an array of commemorative scuptures--not your average sculptures, but scuptures of police dogs lashing out at you and baring their teeth, or of a young black boy and girl being attacked by hose guns. We had a visually impaired member of our group who really appreciated all the tactile, sound and multisensory experiences the museum provided in addition to the visual.

The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church (where the four little girls were killed by bombing) is across the street as well. Apparently, you need to make prior arrangements to go inside, so we didn't get to see the inside.