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Birmingham transforms the pain of the past
By Alan Sverdlik

This gritty, hilly city 135 miles due west of Atlanta has come a long way since the early 1960s, when it was known by the moniker "Bombingham," a reference to a series of explosions that killed or maimed civil rights workers. At the very least, a veneer of racial harmony is evident on the streets of Birmingham, where whites and blacks hold doors for each other, dine together and exchange pleasantries. There's also an upscale, even cosmopolitan feel to a couple of neighborhoods that abut downtown, and the city -- once known for its steel mills -- now boasts one of the best art museums in the South.
What Birmingham once reviled, it now celebrates. Tourism officials and promoters, taking a cue from its archrival Atlanta, have built a civil rights museum and produced brochures designed for black tourists. As incongruous as it may sound, these same boosters also trumpet the trio of Robert Trent Jones-designed golf courses that recently opened in the shadow of the Birmingham highlands. If history or golf fail to lure you here, maybe food will: The city has tangy barbecue and a superb restaurant run by Frank Stitt, one of the region's culinary superstars.

HISTORY

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. (205-328-9696) Part museum, part research and educational facility, the institute was built to honor those who fought for the civil rights of African-Americans.
Visitors to the museum follow a path on a slight incline (meant to symbolize the uphill struggle of blacks) through several galleries that chronicle the history of the rights movement.
Among its many exhibits is the cell in which the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was held under arrest in Birmingham more than 30 years ago and a multimedia representation of the turning points in the movement, such as the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, which is next to the institute. Throughout the exhibits, the sounds of jazz, blues, gospel, crowd murmurs, sirens and speeches can be heard.

CULTURE

The Birmingham Museum of Art. (205-254-2566) With 180,000 square feet, it's the largest municipal art museum in the South. It houses extensive collections of American, European, Asian, African and contemporary works. Nearly the entire hall of the second floor is devoted to European art from the early Renaissance to the Impressionist period.

FOOD

There's plenty or restaurants in and around the Birmingham area. But here's some of our favorites:

MUSIC

The hippest, liveliest strip in Birmingham is 20th Street South, the locus of social life for University of Alabama collegians, Gen Xers and other assorted rock'n'rollers. While the rest of the city sleeps, 20th Street is abuzz with live music and bar hopping. Some of the more popular music clubs are:
  • Zydeco, (205-933-1032)

  • Five Points South Music Hall (205-205-322-2263)

  • The Mill (205-939-3001).

A fountain marks the Five Points intersection in Birmingham.
(Photo by Mary Carmichael)

Bright lights illuminate the Birmingham skyline.(Photo by David Tulis)

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