Annual Events

The National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African American Culture prides itself on its community involvement and dedication to its goal of serving as a living museum and civil rights clearing house. The Center has hosted a number of lectures and other events that have been open to the public. Below are examples of these events to give an indication of what the Center has offered and will continue to offer in the future.

The E.D. Nixon Institute for Research and Cultural Enrichment

The E. D. Nixon Institute has successfully established an impressive record of important topical programs. The first, meant to introduce the concept to the local community, was held at the National Center Annex on a Sunday afternoon, April 22, 2002. Subsequent programs have focused on important local civil rights personalities, political events and impact programs which have affected the Black Community in various ways. Among some of the most outstanding programs of the E. D. Nixon Institute, have been the following:

A Tribute to Dr. E.D. Nixon was a program which explored the life and works of Dr. E.D. Nixon, as a champion for voter rights in Montgomery

The Women’s Political Council Program reflected on the personalities who actually started the Montgomery Bus Boycott

A Tribute to Montgomery’s First Black Bus Drivers, was a program paying tribute to the first Black Bus drivers and the hardships, pain and pleasure which they received, as pioneers in local transportation

A special program, " A Tribute to Winston Craig", who served as the long-time chauffeur and valet to Governor "Big Jim" Folsom of Alabama, proved to be very successful. One of the most interesting and controversial E. D. Nixon programs was the one entitled " The Negative Impact of Interstate Highways on the Black Community of Montgomery." This program created great interest on the part of local Black citizens, especially those whose homes were lost to the incursion of the Interstate Highways, I-65 and I-85.

-Charles Varner, Jr., Research Associate