Congressional Gold Medal | Alabama Public Radio

Tuskegee Airman Dabney Montgomery Dies

By Stan Ingold & Associated Press • Sep 4, 2016

Dabney Montgomery, who served with the all-black Tuskegee Airmen in World War II and marched with Martin Luther King Jr., has died. He was 93.

His wife, Amelia Montgomery, said he died of natural causes Saturday morning at a Manhattan hospice care facility. He had lived in Harlem until he entered the facility August 25th.

Montgomery was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007.

More Tornadoes Hit Southeast & Gulf Coast, Selma Marchers Get Congressional Gold Medal

By Alex AuBuchon • Feb 24, 2016

Parts of the Gulf Coast are reeling after a bout of severe weather that caused Governor Robert Bentley to declare a preemptive state of emergency.

A storm reportedly knocked down trees and damaged property in Reform, Alabama, but no one was hurt. The National Weather Service tweeted that radar indicated a possible tornado in that area.

NWS radar also showed a tornado briefly touching down in Hackleburg, in northwest Alabama. Some roofs were damaged, but no injuries were reported.

World Games, China Spotlight and Gold Medals for Marchers

By Alex AuBuchon • Jan 23, 2015

Iris Gross Birmingham International Center

Alabama is still buzzing over the news that Birmingham will be the host city for the 2021 World games. The first task in preparing to host the games will be to watch how Poland does it.

Wroclaw, Poland will be hosting the 2017 games and Alabama be taking notes on how that city handles it. Over four thousand athletes from one hundred countries usually take part.

Obama to Sign Bill for Birmingham Bombing Victims

By The Associated Press • May 23, 2013

President Barrack Obama plans to sign a bill Friday that awards the Congressional Gold Medal posthumously to the four girls killed in the 1963 bombing of a Birmingham church.

Alabama Reps. Terri Sewell and Spencer Bachus sponsored the bill, which received final approval May 9. Sewell told al.com (http://bit.ly/Z0FxeP ) that some members of Alabama's congressional delegation will attend the signing ceremony at 12:15 p.m. Friday.

Also planning to attend are some family members of the four girls killed in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing.

Recognition Sought For Church Bombing Victims

By The Associated Press • Jan 22, 2013

Nearly 50 years ago, white supremacists planted a bomb in a Birmingham, Ala., church that killed four young girls preparing to worship. It was an act of terror that shocked the country and propelled the Congress to pass that historic 1964 Civil Rights Act. Lawmakers now want to honor those victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor that Congress can bestow.