Women Championing Unity in Birmingham

By Brooke Jiles

The Unity Mural is located on a YWCA Central Alabama building in downtown Brimingham. The YWCA traces its roots to an organization formed in England in 1855 to empower women in job opportunities. At the time it supported women who were arriving in London on their way to serve as nurses in the Crimean War. Over the years, the group has broadened its purpose and fought for equal human rights for all genders and races. Its members have taken leading roles in civil rights movements.

The mural presents a vision of a Birmingham that is accepting of all and where everyone works together to unite the community. The bottom of the painting shows people of all races working together to hold up the city. The bricks they support represent the city becoming a community and bringing the entire metropolis into one street corner, both physically and metaphorically. Above the bricks are Birmingham landmarks, including notable public artworks such as the statues of Vulcan and Electra.

The purpose of the organization is to bring all people within the city and suburbs together. The mural’s inclusion of locations from all these places solidifies its goal. The mural motivates the citizens of Birmingham to build others up and unite with those around them to keep our city strong and connected. No matter where you come from or your background, you can become one with those around you in the city of Birmingham and that is the importance of this mural within our community.

How Does the YWCA Play into Birmingham’s Future?

Originally named the Young Women’s Christian Association, the YWCA now defines itself as “a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.” This has allowed it to grow its margins among those whom it helps. It gives women the opportunity to serve the people around them and encourages those served to join the movement. In Birmingham, this has created a new community for women to grow in and learn from, as well as a place of freedom and stability in the busy city life.

To establish this growth between its twin missions of empowering women and eliminating racism, the YWCA of Central Alabama created the Unity Mural. The painting is located on the outside of My Sister’s Closet, the YWCA thrift shop, and shows five women working together to hold up the city of Birmingham. They are all different races, ethnicities, and ages, yet all of these women are working to keep their community going. On top of the bricks, they are holding include several Birmingham landmarks that align with the YWCA’s mission such as Children’s of Alabama, a medical center. The writing in between each woman says “Strong Young Strong City.” This focuses on the impact and power this mural is trying to have on the city’s people, especially the children raised in downtown. While this mural is often overlooked since 3rd Avenue North runs one way away from it, the impact it does have will affect anyone who happens to visit. The purpose is to go from city to community and be one with those around you. The differences has among people do not stop the city, but actually encourage and inspire citizens to become united and stand strong as one.

Engaging Bham

Along with the mural and active involvement within the Birmingham area, the YWCA of Central Alabama also owns My Sister’s Closet. This thrift store allows people to come in and receive clothes of their choosing at a very small price. Women and children escaping domestic violence can all pick out clothes for each season free of charge. This reduces the number of individuals without proper seasonal attire and gives these families the chance to receive help. The YWCA is able to run this business with the help of the community and people who want to give back through donations. The idea of this store really emphasizes the word unity and that is why the “Unity” mural is located on its brick walls. Each and every day, someone is able to be positively impacted and wants to pass it on to those around them and that is the true meaning of this organization.

What is the YWCA?

The Young Women’s Christian Association began in 1877 when Mary Jane Kinnaird and Erhma Robarts brought the two similar organizations they had founded together to pursue the same cause, serving others. Over several decades, the organization grew to the point of international recognition.

It came to Birmingham in 1903 when Maybelle Sloss founded the YWCA of Central Alabama and immediately began changing life for girls and women throughout the city and nearby neighborhoods. The group first welcomed Whites only, but in 1912, “the Negro Secretary of the National Board of the YWCA, Eva Bowles” visited Birmingham and helped establish a branch for Black women. Soon it had eight hundred members. (ywca central al 7). The Black and White branches formally affiliated with each other in 1932 enabling women of all races, ethnicity, and age to work together and lean on each other for support.

Once the Civil Rights Movement was in full swing, the YWCA stepped up and allowed its members to peacefully protest and continuously support all races in the city. This unity enabled “many black and white women [to] come together to plan and develop programs, in spite of criticism” (ywca central al). This was not without consequences: Several White members left the organization due to its unending support of the civil rights.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the YWCA Central Alabama began helping unhoused individuals with a place to stay and providing child services for women in abusive relationships. This idea helped empower more women to leave their violent relationships without the fear of living off the street, dramatically helping children feel loved and grow up in a safe, constant environment. The local organization’s leadership fought for the Court Advocacy Program that gave “abused women help and guidance through the court system” (ywca central al 1990). This program jumped started by many other groups within the YWCA, such as the “Children in Crisis (CIC), for children who have witnessed domestic violence in their homes” (ywca central al 1994). Not only did these programs allow women to feel safe no matter their pasts, but it also gave them outlets to feel empowered and become a true leader to those in their community.

Unity: Strong Youth Strong City Mural
Memorial form: Mural painted on brick
Artist: Carrie McGran
Created and Installed: YWCA Central Alabama
Location: My Sister’s Closet, 2324 3rd Avenue North, Birmingham, AL 35203

References

Hanson, Joyce. Mary Mcleod Bethune and Black Women’s Political Activism. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2003.

Lott, Martha.”The Relationship Between the ‘Invisibility’ of African American Women in the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s and Their Portrayal in Modern Film.” Journal of Black
Studies 48, no. 4 (2017): 331-54. https://doi.org/https://journals-sagep

Sims, Mary. The YWCA, An Unfolding Purpose. New York: Women’s Press, 1950.

“Strong Youth, Strong City in Birmingham, AL.” Public Art Archive.
https://publicartarchive.org/art/Strong-Youth-Strong-City/27d4c4e5

Thornton, J. Mills. Dividing Lines: Municipal Politics and the Struggle for Civil Rights in Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2002.

“YWCA History.” YWCA Central Alabama. YWCA, 2021.
https://ywcabham.org/about-us/history/.

“YWCA Central Alabama.” Bhamwiki. YWCA, July 5, 2021.
https://bhamwiki.com/w/YWCA_Central_Alabama.

“YWCA.” YWCA. Young Women’s Christian Organization, 2021. https://ywcabham.org/.

Brooke Jiles ’27 was a student in a UCS 102: Icons & Memorials in Samford University’s Howard College of Arts and Sciences in spring 2024.

Published April 29, 2024.