What Is the A.G. Gaston Motel?
The A.G. Gaston Motel was a Green Book-approved motel in Birmingham that also served as H.Q. for Project C!
What Makes It Historical?
Arthur George Gaston was a Black entrepreneur who founded a number of businesses within Birmingham, from the Smith & Gaston Funeral Home to the Booker T. Washington Business College to the A.G. Gaston Motel, which opened in 1954! This motel provided Black travelers a fine lodging and dining experience in the heart of one of America’s most segregated cities!
In 1963, Room 30 of this motel served as headquarters for Project C, a collabration between Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth’s Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)! After 5 weeks of boycotts and demonstrations, met with horrific violence, these organizations and local business leaders signed a truce in the motel courtyard on May 10, 1963. The following day, Room 30 was bombed, injuring four folks and leading to more demonstrations. The motel continued on until 1983, became a home for senior citizens until 1996, then vacated until the declaration of Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument in 2017!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Volunteer at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute!
- Donate to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
1510 5th Ave N
Birmingham, AL 35203
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
When I visited, the hotel was closed for renovation, but it will be back!