Kneeling Ministers -- Kelly Ingram Park, Birmingham AL - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

The Kneeling Ministers sculpture by Raymond Kaskey at he southeast corner of Kelly Ingram Park in Birmingham AL re-creates a famous photograph of 3 ministers, who knelt in the middle of a maelstrom of government-sponsored violence wreaked upon peaceful civil rights protesters at this park on Palm Sunday 1963.

The ministers and protesters were marching in support of Doctor Martin Luther King and 3 local African-American pastors who had been jailed by city officials. Two thousand peaceful marchers assembled behind the 3 pastors, made their way down sixth Avenue North to this part where they were met by police officers with billy clubs and attack dogs.

The sculpture is a combination of gray limestone and bronze, with a plaque in front that reads as follows:

"Peace be still"
Mark 4:39

On Palm Sunday 1963, Rev. N. H. Smith, Rev. John T Porter and Rev. A. D. King led a sympathy march from St. Paul United Methodist Church down 6th Avenue North in support of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Fred Shuttleworth and Rev. Ralph Abernathy, who were in jail. 2000 marchers assembled behind Smith, Porter and King like a "storm cloud". The march climaxed at Kelly Ingram Park where the marchers were met by Billy clubs and police dogs. In the heat of the event these 3 ministers knelt to pray. This statue was built to capture the tote photograph taken at that event. These 3 ministers, along with other clergy and laypersons, were at the core of the movement that changed the world. This plaque installed in memory of these ministers by Reverend Anthony "Alann" Johnson, grandson of Rev. N. H. Smith and the city of Birmingham"

TITLE: Kneeling Ministers ARTIST(S): Raymond Kaskey DATE: 1992 MEDIUM: Limestone CONTROL NUMBER: IAS AL000003 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: SE corner of Kelly Ingram park DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: The Smithsonian database does not discuss the plaque

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