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about

Mission

The Beth El Civil Rights Experience explores Birmingham’s civil rights history through the lens of the Jewish community and builds connections to foster ongoing acts of tikkun olam, repairing the world.

mission

Intention

This project reflects the Jewish community’s desire to collect and preserve its history, especially as it relates to struggles for civil and human rights in Birmingham and beyond. It began with asking, “How can we understand ourselves in relation to pivotal events in our city’s past?”

The very making of the Beth El Civil Rights Experience has become a way to open conversations with ourselves and our neighbors. This is more than a museum; it’s an invitation to both learn and act, and we want you to be a part of that dialogue.

Throughout your visit, we encourage you to think about how these stories inform the way you make sense of the past, present, and future. What does it mean to be in solidarity with our neighbors? How can you be an advocate for the causes that you care about — whatever they may be? Where are you on the spectrum of action in your own life?

We hope that as you go forward, you not only listen, but you get your hands into this history, turn it over, feel it, and question it.

Objectives 

  • Our aim is to not glorify the role of Temple Beth El or the broader Jewish community during the Civil Rights Movement, but rather to present its involvement within a more nuanced spectrum so that we more fully consider our own ability to enact change today. 

  • Our aim is to examine a Jewish perspective on a story that primarily belongs to the Black community; we are not out to conflate the Black and Jewish experiences but to support areas where they naturally overlap in hopes of strengthening bridges.

“It is not on you to finish the task, but neither are you free to desist from it”

- Rabbi Tarfon, Pirkei Avot, 2:16

Acknowledgements

“In Solidarity,” the site-specific installation at Temple Beth El, was produced by 1504 in association with Temple Beth El and the following:

Featuring photography by Spider Martin.

Special Thanks

We are always looking for new partners in exploring this history! To find ways you or your organization can get involved or contribute to the future of this initiative, please contact Margaret Norman at info@templebethelexperience.org.

  • Alejandra Colon

    Aviva Goldberg

    Barbara Bonfield

    Caryn Corenblum

    Jesse Unkenholz

    Rebecca Millsap

    Ronald Levitt

    Tammi Caldwell-Horn

    Faye Kimerling

    Julian Brook

  • The Beth El Civil Rights Experience is made possible through the generous support of many members of our community, including:

    Reva & Joe Engel Young Adult Engagement Fund

    Charles & Esther Lee Kimerling Media Fund of the Temple Beth El Foundation

    Maxine & Stanley Lapidus Special Projects Fund of the Temple Beth El Foundation

    Tenenbaum/Spielberger Tikkun Olam Fund of the Temple Beth-El Foundation

    Alabama Humanities Alliance

    Alabama Power

    Birmingham Jewish Foundation

    Dentons Sirote PC

    Southern Jewish Historical Society

    Temple Beth-El Men’s Club, who generously supported the installation of our historic marker

    Thank you to the Barbara & Stuart Royal Civil Rights Fund for the generous sponsorship of our Beth El Civil Rights Experience kippot

  • Our Civil Rights Experience committee and inaugural cohort of docents include:

    Howard Kaplan
    Sheri Krell
    Karen Weinrib
    Michael Sznjaderman
    Toby Siegel
    Cindy May
    Sherrie Grunfeld
    Duncan Lamb
    Susan Lapidus
    Suzanne Bearman
    Sue Lischkoff
    Larry Brook
    Julian Brook
    Eddie Griffith
    Marc Rice
    Ellen Erdreich
    Barbara Bonfield
    Jessica Nissenbaum
    Barbara Royal
    Sallie Downs
    Jonathan Wiesen

  • Archival Footage, Images, and Materials Courtesy of:

    Alabama Department of Archives and History
    Ambre Amari/Amari Editorial
    Archive.org
    Associated Press
    “Behind the Magic Curtain” by T.K. Thorne; NewSouth Books Birmingham, Ala. Public Library, Department of Archive and Manuscripts
    Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
    CBS Reports / Veritone
    Cuba Family Archives for Southern Jewish History at the Breman Museum Filmsupply
    Getty Images
    Howard Kaplan
    Joe Songer / al.com
    Julian Brooke
    Music from The Music Bed
    Marion Trikosko / Library of Congress The New York Times
    Storyblocks
    Storycorp
    “To Stand Aside or Stand Alone” by P. Allen Krause; University of Alabama Press
    Tracy Martin / Spider Martin
    The UAB Archives, the University of Alabama at Birmingham
    United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
    WSB Newsfilm Collection, University of Georgia Libraries

  • Special thanks to our community partners who shared stories, memories, and research to support this project, including:

    Bethel Baptist Church
    Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
    Lisa McNair
    T. Marie King
    Tracy Martin
    Tim Pennycuff
    Dr. Martha Bouyer
    Michele Forman
    Wayne Coleman
    Whitney Wright
    Sally Goldstein
    Bill Baxley
    Donald Hess
    Pam Powell
    Angela Goldstein Cohen
    Connor Marullo
    Ingrid Kraus
    Debra Darvick
    Tracy Stein
    Ellen Erdreich
    Kaye Cochran Nail