Holt Street Baptist Church

On the evening of Dec. 5, 1955, in the aftermath of Rosa Parks’ arrest, 5,000 people gathered at Holt Street Baptist Church. They filled the sanctuary, the basement auditorium and even spilled outside to hear the newly elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His stirring speech advocating action without violence gave rise to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Now called Holt Street Memorial Baptist, the church is still active today within the Montgomery community though no longer at its original location.