Whites Recall the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

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2. Introduction

   • Sandra K. Gill

   Pages 1-10

3. Collective Recollections: Approaches to Memory in Sociology

   • Sandra K Gill

   Pages 11-21

4. Our Town—Our School—My Research

   • Sandra K. Gill

   Pages 23-30

5. Narrating Recollections

   • Sandra K. Gill

   Pages 31-45

6. Constructing a Cultural Trauma

   • Sandra K. Gill

   Pages 47-62

7. Silence, Youth, and Change

   • Sandra K. Gill

   Pages 63-78

8. Fine Families and a Forgotten Past: The New Narrative

   • Sandra K. Gill

   Pages 79-84

9. Techniques of Memory

   • Sandra K. Gill

   Pages 85-95

10. Conclusion

    • Sandra K. Gill

    Pages 97-108

11. Back Matter

    Pages 109-128

    PDF

This illuminating volume examines how the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama developed as a trauma of culture. Throughout the book, Gill asks why the “four little girls” killed in the bombing became part of the nation’s collective memory, while two black boys killed by whites on the same day were all but forgotten. Conducting interviews with classmates who attended a white school a few blocks from some of the most memorable events of the Civil Rights Movement, Gill discovers that the bombing of the church is central to interviewees’ memories. Even the boy killed by Gill’s own classmates often escapes recollection. She then considers these findings within the framework of the reception of memory and analyzes how white southerners reconstruct a difficult past.  

• Collective memory
• Race
• Autobiographical memory
• Cultural sociology
• U.S. South
• Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
• histrorical sociology

“This is an analytically astute and objective work by someone who was, in a real sense, a participant observer. It has the best qualities of the reflexive sociology that Peter Berger and Peter Bourdieu advocated, and Gill integrates an impressive range of relevant literature. The book is well written; despite the grimness of the subject matter, it is a pleasure to read.” (Martin O. Heisler, Professor Emeritus, Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland, USA)

“Gill’s analysis of interviews with her former classmates illustrates the enduring practices that sustain racial inequality. Memories of the four Black girls killed in the 1963 church bombing contrast withthe failure to remember two Black boys slain on the same day. Her analysis highlights the nuances that shape sympathy for victims and speaks to contemporary racial justice issues raised by the Black Lives Matter Movement.” (Sharon Elise, Ph.D, Professor of Sociology and Department Chair, California State University, San Marcos, USA)

• Gettysburg College , Gettysburg, USA

  Sandra K. Gill

Sandra K. Gill is Associate Professor of Sociology at Gettysburg College, USA, where she teaches courses in social theory, gender, and qualitative methods. Her published works include articles on gender inequality, gender differences in personality, and autobiographical memory.  

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