Martin Bear's Travels: Debate Team Trip: Alabama (Wednesday)

The group went into two separate directions for the morning. One group went and listened to another round at the speech tournaments and the decided to have a late start to the morning and breakfast at Waffle House. After breakfast the two groups meet up and headed to Montgomery, Alabama for the afternoon.

The first stop for the group was the capital. The group walked around and the capital and checked out the different statutes that surrounded the building. After walking around the capital building the group headed over to check out the first capital of the Confederacy.

Montgomery resident William Lowndes Yancey was a supporter of states' rights and supported the idea of secession from the Union. Alabama voted to secede from the Union on January 11, 1861. On February 4, 1861 in Montgomery Alabama representatives from Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina formed the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis was inaugurated President of the Confederacy and Montgomery became the first capital.

The house was rented to the Confederacy by Colonel Edmund S. Harrison for $5,000 per year. The house came fully furnished. The house remained the home of the Davis family while the capital of the Confederacy remained in Montgomery. The capital was moved to Richmond, Virginia in May of 1861.

Here are pictures of the different rooms that were in the first white house of the Confederacy. The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Here are pictures of the dates that the different states left the Union.

A picture of a painting of the Davis Children.

One of the bedrooms that appears in the house.

Another one of the bedrooms in the White House of the Confederacy

After leaving the White House the group decided to head to a visitors center and catch a trolley ride around town. One of the best ways to learn about a new city is to take a tour of the city. Because of the lateness of the hour the group wasn't able to get off and visit different locations. We were able to see the following though:

Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church
The Capitol Building
Hank Williams Museum
Civil Rights Memorial Center
Dexter Parsonage Museum (Home of Martin Luther King Jr.)
First White House of the Confederacy
Rosa Parks Library and Museum
Much More

Here are pictures of the group sitting on the trolley.

Here is a picture of the trolley that we rode on around the city.

After the trolley ride the group made the decision to head out of town. The group decided to eat at an Olive Garden in Montgomery and stopped for a few pictures along the way. One of the placed the group decided to stop at was the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. The group wasn't able to go into the church because it was closed. We were able to get a few pictures outside of it though.

Here is the plaque that was outside of the church

Here is picture of the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. served as the pastor at this church from 1954-1960.

After leaving the church we had dinner at Olive Garden.....amazing desserts.

On the way back to Birmingham the group stopped at Vulcan Park. The park has the world's largest cast iron statue. The statute was designed by Italian artist Giuseppe Moretti.