Safe House Black History Museum

Safe House Black History Museum

Established	2002 (2002)
Location	Greensboro, Alabama, US
Coordinates	32°41′52″N 87°36′35″W
Type	History
Founder	Theresa Burroughs
Employees	none
Website	safehousemuseum.org

The Safe House Black History Museum is a museum and cultural center in Greensboro, Alabama, United States. In March 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. used one of the museum's buildings as a safe house two weeks before he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis.

Founding and mission

The museum was founded in 2002 by Theresa Turner Burroughs.^[1][2][3] The museum's focus is the grass-roots activism in the rural Black Belt that led to the US civil rights movement.^[1][2][3]

Description and use as a safe house

The museum is housed in neighboring shotgun houses in Greensboro's Depot neighborhood, homes originally built for employees of a local cotton gin.^[1][2][3][4] One of the houses, a three-room structure, was owned by the Burroughs family, who were local activists; Theresa Burroughs had been childhood friends with Coretta Scott King.^[2][3] Martin Luther King Jr. used it as a safe house on March 21, 1968, while being hunted by the Ku Klux Klan, shortly before his assassination.^[1][3][5]

Displays

Displays include a pickup truck from which King gave a speech when local churches were afraid to allow him to speak in their buildings^[1] and mugshots of local activists who were arrested in protests and marches during the civil rights era, including the Greensboro marches, Bloody Sunday, and the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery.^[2][6][3] A desk made for a local landowner by one of the people he enslaved is held in its collection.^[7]

Recognition

In 2010, Auburn University's Rural Studio selected the museum as a project for architecture students. The buildings were renovated and their exteriors restored to their original style, and a covered gallery was built to connect them.^[3] In 2018, it was one of 20 Alabama sites important to civil rights history to be placed on the World Monument Fund's watch list.^[8]

Funding

As of 2021, the museum operated on a $10,000 annual budget, had a volunteer executive director, and was open by appointment.^[1] Funding comes from donations, grants, admissions fees, and gift shop sales.^[1] As of 2024, funders included the city of Greensboro, the Alabama Humanities Alliance, and the Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium.^[9]

References

1. Felton, Emmanuel (October 4, 2021). "Alabama spends more than a half-million dollars a year on a Confederate memorial. Black historical sites struggle to keep their doors open". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
2. Davis, Carla (March 26, 2020). "Women's History Month: Theresa Burroughs' Greensboro museum preserves Alabama's civil rights history". Alabama News Center. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
3. "Safe House Black History Museum". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
4. "Safe House Black History Museum". Rural Studio. June 5, 2019. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
5. Cobb, Mark Hughes (June 7, 2023). "Greensboro celebrates bicentennial with tour of historic homes, museums and churches". The Tuscaloosa News. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
6. Tomberlin, Michael (September 21, 2021). "Alabama small towns: Greensboro". Alabama News Center. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
7. Martin, Jake (July 13, 2014). "Returning a desk to its rightful place". St. Augustine Record. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
8. Sharpe, Keisa (January 23, 2018). "African-American heritage sites in Alabama recognized through special fund, history preserved". Alabama News Center. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
9. "Home". Safe House Black History Museum. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.