Bethel Baptist Church (Birmingham, Alabama)

Bethel Baptist Church, Parsonage, and Guardhouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage
Bethel Baptist Church in 1993
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Location	3233, 3232 and 3236 29th Avenue North, Collegeville, Alabama
Coordinates	33°33′06.5″N 86°48′07.3″W / 33.551806°N 86.802028°W / 33.551806; -86.802028Coordinates: 33°33′06.5″N 86°48′07.3″W / 33.551806°N 86.802028°W / 33.551806; -86.802028
Architectural style	Modern Movement
NRHP Reference #	05000455
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	April 5, 2005
Designated NHL	April 05, 2005
Designated ARLH	November 13, 1996

Bethel Baptist Church in the Collegeville neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama served as headquarters from 1956 to 1961 for the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR), which was led by Fred Shuttlesworth and active in the Birmingham during the Civil Rights Movement. The ACMHR focused on legal and nonviolent direct action against segregated accommodations, transportation, schools and employment discrimination. It played a crucial role in the 1961 Freedom Ride that resulted in federal enforcement of U.S. Supreme Court and Interstate Commerce Commission rulings to desegregate public transportation.

Fred Shuttlesworth served as pastor from 1953 to 1961. The church buildings were bombed on three separate occasions, first on December 25, 1956, again on June 29, 1958, and lastly on December 14, 1962.

The church complex was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on November 13, 1996. It was then added to the National Register of Historic Places and declared a National Historic Landmark on April 5, 2005. On 1 January 2008 the US Government submitted it to UNESCO as part of an envisaged future World Heritage nomination and as such it is on the so-called UNESCO 'Tentative List of World Heritage Sites'.