Bell Missionary Baptist gets marker noting role in civil rights history

Bell Missionary Baptist Church was instrumental in the civil rights movement. Now, its pastors are taking steps to help people remember their church's important history.

Community leaders on April 21 celebrated the Alabama Department of Archives and History Historical Marker Committee's action to place a plaque at the church, commemorating this history.

“We just thought that it was really a part of history that traditionally people did not know about," Co-Pastor Lena Huntley said.

Church members provided transportation during the Montgomery Bus Boycott and was one of five churches bombed for their involvement in the boycott Jan. 10, 1957.

“This is a historic church," Huntley said. "It has not been recognized as such.”

Rev. A.L. Hawkins established the church in 1883, and it was previously destroyed by a fire and a tornado prior to the bombing.

Rev. Uriah Fields led the church throughout the civil rights movement and oversaw construction of the church after the bombing. Construction finished May 10, 1958.

More: Foot Soldier StoriesRenovations to Selma center bring back memories of Bloody Sunday

Alex Gladden is the Montgomery Advertiser's public safety reporter. She can be reached at agladden@gannett.com or on Twitter @gladlyalex.