(rhythmic music) - [Announcer] Coming up.

Matt is in Birmingham, Alabama, to help two sisters downsize a home filled with cherished family mementos.

- Oh, look at these.

- Yes.

- No way.

- [Announcer] Many of the items date back to the Civil Rights Movement.

- Holy cow.

Dr. King's funeral.

- [Announcer] Emotions run high as the team literally holds history in their hands.

- This particular job has had me feeling the most pain.

- I'm Matt Paxton.

Let's do it, man.

My team of specialists, Jaime, Mike, and Avi, help me help people downsize their homes and settle estates.

As the largest population of baby boomers in American history transition towards retirement, they and their families face the overwhelming task of emptying their homes to move.

We help them sift through a lifetime of possessions.

- Bingo.

- Heirlooms, and collectibles.

And we have literally-- - There it is.

- Found a piece of history.

To help them find the missing family treasures that mean the most to them.

- Oh my goodness.

- Jackie Robinson.

And along the way, they'll discover that the most important museum in the world may be in their family's basement.

- Oh.

- Oh.

- I've never seen that.

That is cool looking.

- From attics to cellars, closets to cupboards, we uncover the memories they want to preserve.

This is living history.

This is what we're here to find.

Let's go.

And discover the compelling, personal and often historical stories spanning generations that are their family's legacy.

- [Announcer] Funding for "Legacy List" is provided by Wheaton Worldwide Moving.

Wheaton's number one goal is to help you, your loved ones, and your belongings, get to your new home quickly and safely.

You can find us at wheatonworldwide.com.

Wheaton Worldwide Moving, we Move Your Life.

FirstLight Home Care, committed to providing safe and compassionate home services for you and your family.

FirstLight believes personal relationships and engagement are as important as mobility, bathing, and personal hygiene.

Details at firstlighthomecare.com.

♪ Take me to place on a holiday ♪ ♪ A place on a holiday - Today I'm in Birmingham, Alabama on my way to meet Lisa McNair.

She needs our help decluttering her house, because it is filled to the brim with family mementos.

This is gonna be a tough clean out, because this family's history is deeply connected to the struggle for Civil Rights.

(door knocking) Lisa, how are you?

- How are you?

- Good to see you.

How are you?

- Good to see you.

- Good to see you.

- Who is this?

- This is Banjo.

- Banjo, what's up.

- Banjo, this is our new friend, Matt.

He's gonna help us out.

- This house is huge.

- Yes, my parents bought it in 1959.

- Okay.

- And it was a little small house.

- Okay.

- So they've had two renovations since then.

- Your parents have both passed away.

- Yeah, Mama passed away in January.

- So she just passed?

- Yeah, she just passed.

- So who lives here now?

- Me, and my sister and her husband.

- Okay.

- Every bedroom has its own bath, so nobody is in the way.

- So, nobody on top of each other, okay.

- Yeah.

Yea - And what's the goal?

- When Momma was alive and when she was well, she was an excellent housekeeper, and so we'd like to start purging in and making it look nice again.

Like she would've wanted.

- So I'm guessing we've got generations of stuff.

- So many generations of things.

- And it falls on you and your sister.

- Right.

- To deal with it.

- [Lisa] My older sister, Denise, was killed in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963.

She was 11 when she was killed.

- Man, what a heavy situation to be such a big part of the Civil Rights Movement, and yet you never met her in real life.

- Right, it's very odd.

All my life, that picture has been in our den or in our living room.

Daddy shot that picture.

He was a professional photographer.

First African American legislature from this county, from an area that was not all Black.

So that was really a big deal.

- Really big deal.

- We all knew the story of the four girls dying in the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church.

But it's a whole different thing when you know that the grieving happened in these walls.

- So this was mom and dad's master bedroom.

- It was.

- Yeah.

- So it feels like the world's biggest linen closet.

I see this in every house I go to.

As soon as a person passes away, that room, people either don't want to go into it.

- Yeah.

- [Matt] It's weird to go back into it or something.

- Yeah, we had some trouble going into it.

- Okay, I get that.

- Yeah.

Well, we do want it purged and cleaned, just because I feel like Mama's spirit is saying, "If y'all don't clean my room, "I'm gonna come back and haunt you."

- I'm afraid to ask this.

What does the garage look like?

(Lisa laughing) - This is the garage.

Don't pass out.

- Okay.

I'm known for cleaning messy places.

This does not disappoint.

We can do it.

- Yeah.

- But, wow.

- Yeah.

- Do you think any of the Legacy List items, any kind of that stuff, will I find out here?

- Do you mind?

Yes.

- Okay.

- They might be in here because when Daddy died, people just helped us straighten up the house and move boxes out here.

And so I'm not sure that things I thought were in the house or not here, and I don't want anything to be lost.

- Okay, and that is exactly why people call us.

This is part of the goal that you brought us here.

You really need this space clean.

- I really need this space clean.

- Okay, what will it be when we're done?

- Well, I would like to put a car in here.

- Okay.

- I like this wall mostly to be where we have Kim's things that she uses over here and maybe a table.

- So some of Kim's stuff needs to stay, a little bit of your stuff needs to stay, and we're gonna go through some of your parents' stuff.

And then really, I mean, 75% of this needs to get outta here.

- Yeah.

Needs to leave.

- Okay, all right.

Before we get my team in here to start cleaning, let's go find a place to sit down and go over the legacy list.

- Sounds good.

(mellow music) - I know you got history, but y'all are struggling with just normal problems of caretakers.

You've been taking care of your family for a long time, and now it's time for you and your sister to take care of yourself.

- Right.

- So let's go over, the physical work we need to do is pretty simple.

We need to clean out this garage.

- Right.

- Make it a living space for you and your sister, and hopefully get at least one car in there.

- Um-hmm.

- [Matt] And then hopefully we're gonna have time to get into your parents' room and make that a better guest room.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- [Lisa] That's exactly right.

- I need to hear about the legacy list.

And as a reminder, a legacy list is a list of five or six items in your family that really tell the family history and legacy way beyond our time.

- Okay.

- Some people need help finding the items.

Some people just need more information on those items.

- [Lisa] Okay.

- So I'm anxious to hear what you got.

- There's a trunk with some of her Denise's things in it.

- Okay.

- We had a art gallery, and my dad had a Denise Memorial Room.

So when we sold the business, we loaned all those items to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

- Okay.

- These are the things that we just have here that we never let them have.

And it's a possibility that we could share them with maybe another museum, the Smithsonian or something like that.

- Okay.

So some of those items that we find you'd be open to donating them.

- Yeah.

- To other museums.

Temporarily.

- Yes, that's correct.

- Okay.

- Next thing, anything pertaining to the bombing, There should be some books and telegrams and sympathy cards from that time.

I know there's a telegram from Dr. and Mrs. King, and I'd like to find that.

- Yes.

- And then I think there's a telegram from Jackie Kennedy, and I'd like to find that.

I grew up after Denise was killed, so I knew about her, always have known about her, but it's weird because it's a piece of history that you weren't a part of.

And so for now it's like, how do I carry that legacy of her life on?

- What's your next item?

- Okay.

Daddy's cameras.

Daddy had a myriad of cameras.

- Okay.

- He was actually one of the many freelance photographers who worked for "Ebony" and "Jet Magazine".

So he has his own collection of historic negatives during the movement, Dr. King and other famous people who came here to Birmingham.

- He was also taking pictures.

- Right.

- Not only participating in the history as it happened in the city, but he was documenting it as well.

- Documenting it as well.

- Wow.

- Yeah.

- All right, what else do you have?

- Congressional gold medal.

- I've found a lot of things in my life.

I have not held one of these medals.

And this was for your, I guess, all four girls?

- It was all four girls.

- So you got to sit in office with Obama?

- I got to, got to go up in there.

- What did your mom think about that?

- You know, it's interesting.

She had Alzheimer's at that point, so we were worried that she wouldn't really know what was going on.

She was on point that whole day.

She was just really on point.

- She was back.

- She was back.

He was just so gracious and kind.

He took over the wheelchair.

- He pushed it.

- And he pushed her behind the desk next to him.

(Lisa laughing) - Not to be overly dramatic, but my God, to think of where your mom came in her life.

From Birmingham, Alabama, a very challenging time, specifically, and raised relations, a challenging city, to say the least, all the way to being pushed around by the first Black President.

- Yeah.

- That is.

- That was very cool.

- Amazing, ugh.

- Very, very cool.

Very, very cool.

And he spoke so eloquently about the sacrifice of losing their child that they made, that he would not be where he is today.

Were not for that sacrifice and many, many others.

And then I think he kissed her on the cheek.

That, she all often talked about.

(Lisa laughing) So, two more.

- All right.

- The item I'm most looking for is some recordings.

- Okay.

- Of my mother.

My mother was a classically trained vocalist, and she held a concert at 16th Street Baptist Church for their organ fund.

And early 2000s, I had the reel to reels made to CDs.

And I don't know where any of that is.

- So we're looking for reel to reel and CDs?

- Yeah.

- Either one would be fine.

- Yeah, either one would be fine.

- All right.

- The next item Kim really would like to find, and I'd love to have it too, is Mama's Bible and her notes for prayer.

She would get up every morning and read a Bible, and then pray for the people in this spiral bound binder.

And she would just pray for everybody.

- Your mom sounds amazing.

- She was.

She was the best mama ever.

- How long did she have Alzheimer's?

- Diagnosed from '07.

- Okay.

- Until she died in January.

Over the time, you just lose a little bit of your loved one.

It's the long goodbye.

So there've been periods over this last, you know, 10, 15 years where I'll be in the car thinking about her, the big pieces of her that I've lost, and I just cried driving down the road, you know, missing her.

- All right, well, we got a lot of stuff to find, but we've got a whole lot of work to do in the garage, but I think we can do it.

- [Lisa] Cool.

- We're gonna be real careful, because I know the depth of the history of the things we're gonna find.

They really should be in museums.

A lot of it.

- Thank you.

- And we're super excited.

- Thank you very much.

- Thank you.

- I am too.

- Yeah.

(mellow music) I got to learn a lot about Lisa and her family yesterday, and I'm glad I get to sit down with Kim today, get to know her before my whole team arrives.

What was it like when you moved back here?

First of all, when did you move back into this house?

- So I moved back in 2011.

My husband and I. I became primary caregiver of my parents pretty much upon arrival.

- Yeah.

- You just take a backseat to a lot of things that you've got going on.

- So you moved back home at 40, started a business, full-time caregiver to your mom.

- And dad.

- And dad at the time.

- Um- hmm.

- Then both of them pass and Covid.

I can see why the house is full.

- Yeah, yeah.

- I call it survival mode.

Last 10 years you've been in survival mode.

- Yeah, yeah.

- If I can just get up and then get mom taken care of, and then the next day it's all right, well, if I can just get to bed by 11.

- Yeah, yeah.

- After meeting Kim and Lisa it's really clear what needs to happen.

We need to clear this house so they can get their lives back and move forward.

(upbeat music) - I was not expecting this.

I see a big garage.

- This is huge.

- Man it's huge.

- Uh- oh.

- Oh, no, no.

- No, no, no.

- Oh my gosh.

- Well, don't you look comfortable.

- Hey, y'all.

- Oh my God.

- You have truly embraced the southern lifestyle.

- We're in Alabama.

- That has to be sweet tea though, right?

- It is, it's pretty good.

It's a calm before the storm, I would say.

- That's what I was worried about.

- Yeah.

- Big house.

- Huge house.

- Huge house.

- Yeah.

- So it started off as a tiny little house.

That's where the family moved here, and then they added on twice.

- Wow.

- And now mom and dad have both passed away recently.

And it's the two sisters.

- Okay.

- Lisa and Kim, they live here, but they all live in one little section of it.

- Why?

- Well, it's one of these things where they both moved back to take care of their mom.

And so for the last decade, they've really been caretakers in this home.

- Wow.

- So although it's their home and they grew up in it, it really hadn't been their home.

They both run their own businesses.

So they have the space to run their business here.

I think they love this house.

And I sent you guys the research with.

- Yeah.

Their sister Denise, when everything that happened at 16th Street Baptist Church, like there's real history in this house.

- Yeah.

- And they're kind of afraid to touch it.

And then they've got the normal respect for their mom and their dad and all of that stuff.

- I mean, even in this process, they're still taking care of mom.

I mean, it's still trying to take care of-- - They're more concerned about preserving their sister's history and their mom's history and their dad's history.

- Yeah.

- Than they are about having their own life in this space.

- Yeah.

- And I think that's gonna be one of our challenges this week, is to get them to think of this as their home.

- Yeah.

- Mike, you got your hands full of the garage.

- Okay.

- I'm here for you, I'm here for you.

- Well, here's the good news.

We're in Alabama.

Every room is hot.

(Avi laughing) - There's no difference.

So you'll just be a little closer to the outside.

Avi and I, we're gonna hit a couple of the rooms inside.

I sent you guys the full legacy list.

We know it's here, but we don't have a clue where it was put.

- Yeah.

- This is gonna be a big gift for them to get this thing organized and livable.

- Yeah, I mean, the history's never gonna go away, but we can make their life easier by organizing everything for 'em.

- We'll be waiting for our sweet tea.

- All right, we'll see you this afternoon.

- Yeah, I'll be holding my breath.

- [Avi] Big maybe.

There's so much here to go through.

- All right.

- Okay.

- Lots to go through in here, man.

So this is where they lived.

- Okay, it's a good chance we might find quite a bit here.

I mean, just based on them being in this room a lot.

- Yeah, I mean, from my experience with clients, like they hide their most important things where they are.

All right, let's clear this off.

- That's a good idea, I think.

Oh, I need a central place to bring some things.

- Love being in a hot garage with you.

Oh, what are we walking into?

Oh.

- Oh.

- Oh my God.

(both laughing) - All right, okay, deep breath.

- Yeah, tell me, walk me through it.

- Okay, we've got three generations and two small businesses right here.

- Garages are great spaces to store things, because you can shut both doors and you don't have to see what's in there.

- The good news is, I think we do anything in here, it's gonna look way better.

- I agree with you.

I'm gonna let you assign me a spot.

- How about right here?

- Love it.

- [Mike] And I've been eyeballing this little nook back there.

- Okay.

- And you know, I think what we should do is just kind of work towards each other.

- [Jaime] Okay.

- Let's focus on the little stuff, because I've got my crew coming.

We'll take care of the furniture and everything that's big and heavy.

- Yeah, okay, that sounds like a great plan.

Get on back there.

- Okay.

Jamie, you are not gonna believe this.

- What?

- I found this notebook.

- Okay.

- And just opened up to a random page.

At the very top, it says, this could take about 12 months.

(Jaime laughing) (mellow music) - Lots of gauze, lots of medical supplies.

- You know what I see with a lot of families is as soon as the person passes away, they just walk out of the room.

- Just release it.

- And I think they just, they work so hard to care that when it's, they don't have to care more, they just need the rest.

I think they just shut the door.

Honestly.

- It makes sense.

I tell you, to me, it takes a lot of courage to even allow us to be here.

- Absolutely.

- You think about.

- Totally.

- I mean, I keep just thinking about what this family has gone through and how courageous like they have been.

- Dude, if I went through half of what they've gone through, I would shut the door and never speak to someone again.

- Ever.

- Anyone?

Yeah, I would just give up.

And they just keep going.

(mellow music) - So, lots of stuff with the catering business in here for sure.

Paper straws, you know I love those.

- Oh yeah.

Jaime, Jaime, Jaime.

- What?

- Look what I found.

- Whatcha got?

- These may be the dad's cameras.

- Oh.

- Yeah.

Look at this bad boy.

- Look at that.

- I haven't found many of these, but you can tell when you find one that this person was a serious photographer.

Kim and Lisa's dad, he was right there.

Martin Luther King.

- Yes.

- Rosa Parks.

This very camera with.

- With that camera.

- Yeah.

- I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it.

- I mean, it's also probably something that he would've used in his studio as well.

Definitely this.

This thing is heavy.

You're not toting this around.

- No.

- No.

Yeah, I mean, this one at least has a handle on it.

- Yeah.

- This is amazing.

A lot of people think that their things belong in museums.

These items actually do.

(pencil scratching) (bell pinging) - All right, so back to organizing.

This is my favorite thing right here.

They're storing something that says, don't use.

(both laughing) Oh, I love it.

- Oh, man.

Let's see.

Oh, Matt.

- What do you got there?

Pictures?

- Pictures.

- Oh man.

- My heart's beating fast right now, man.

I'm telling you.

- Look at this.

This is his right?

- My goodness.

Looks like we got negatives.

- Those slides.

- Here we go, man.

You know what's cool about this is this particular picture was a screen saver on my phone for years.

- Get outta here.

- Yeah.

- What is it?

- From 16th Street Baptist Church.

- It is.

- Yeah.

- Wow.

- How much had you studied of this story before we got here?

- For Black Americans it's kind of a pivotal point, you know, in the Civil Rights Movement.

- Yeah.

- So like, there was a story I heard virtually all my life.

Just the tragedy behind it, but how it moved that movement forward.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] In 1963, the 16th Street Baptist Church was one of the largest black churches in Birmingham.

And a meeting place where Civil Rights leaders organized to end segregation.

Led by Martin Luther King and Fred Shuttlesworth, black citizens left their pews to stage boycotts, arranged sit-ins and marched peacefully through the streets.

They were beaten and arrested by the thousands.

White clergymen had criticized the protests as unwise and untimely.

Couldn't demonstrators just wait a little longer?

While sitting in jail, Dr. King composed a response.

He wrote, "I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign "that was well timed in the view of those "who have not suffered from the disease of segregation.

"This wait has almost always meant never.

"We must come to see that justice too long delayed "is justice denied."

School children soon joined King in the streets.

Police Chief, Bull Hunter, retaliated with high pressure fire hoses and attack dogs.

All eyes were on Birmingham.

Things reached a boiling point on September 15th when KKK members planted sticks of dynamite at the 16th Street Baptist Church.

The explosion killed four young girls getting ready for Sunday service.

Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, and Denise McNair.

When King heard the news, he sent a telegram to Alabama Governor George Wallace, a committed segregationist.

"The blood of our children is on your hands."

The bombing compelled lawmakers to pass the Civil Rights Act the next year.

Still, justice was too long delayed.

It took over a decade for the first Klansmen to be held responsible.

Two other conspirators weren't convicted until the early 2000s.

- Personal portraits.

No way.

- What do you got?

Dr. King's funeral?

1968 in Atlanta.

- Do you see that?

- What?

- Oh, my gracious.

- Man.

- What?

- Holy cow.

- Oh my gosh.

- Look at this, man.

- I'm shaking man.

- 1968.

- I'm shaking.

I'm shaking, man.

His lens, his perspective, puts me right there.

I just really appreciate, you know, that he was able to continue on capturing those moments after losing his daughter in such a tragic way.

I think every picture from that point on would've just been a representation of freedom.

Like this is for her.

You know, this is for Denise.

Those are the contact sheets, right?

- Yeah.

Dude, this is Dr. King and-- - Ralph Abernathy.

- Ralph Abernathy.

This is them leaving jail.

- Oh.

- And then speaking at the 16th Street Baptist Church.

- This is just after Martin Luther King's letter from a Birmingham jail.

- Yeah.

- You know, you hear about this.

- Yeah.

- And it's one thing, right?

You try to imagine yourself in that moment, like, what was going on.

This just brings me a little closer.

Their father was behind the lens.

- Yeah.

- Of this shot, and we're in their home.

- Yeah.

- I keep thinking, you know, he was on the sidelines, but not really.

He was in it.

He was taking pictures, but he was playing.

- He was in it.

- Yeah.

- And we found a piece of history.

It's not often we find things like this.

I mean, Black American's history is not often recorded.

- So here's a question.

I have this box of personal items, and inside of it is a box, but the box is taped.

What do you normally do when you come across something like that?

Do you take it to the client and ask them if you can open it?

- That's a really case by case basis.

- Yeah.

- For this house, given how little time we've got, If we have to wait for them, we'll never get done.

- Okay.

My gosh, this is heavy.

- What is it?

- It's like a, oh, it's like three pretty hefty binders.

But this label says all telegrams.

- Okay.

- Okay.

- All right.

Let's see what we got here.

Oh, look at these.

Our love and sincere blessings are with you in this hour of bereavement.

Mr. and Mrs. James High.

- And these are from like strangers sending their condolences.

I mean, that's just-- - Well, the story was headline news all over the world.

- I know.

Dear Maxine and Chris, we cannot find words to express how we feel at this time, but please know that we are very much affected.

We will always remember our little flower girl.

- It just blows my mind.

There's very few moments where history just turns.

This is one of those moments.

- Absolutely.

These were artifacts from American history amongst empty moving boxes.

- When you have all this, it's really attractive to just say, well, back up a dumpster or a truck.

- Yep.

- And just get it out.

- Yep.

- But these are the kinds of things, once they're gone, they're gone.

- Yep.

Well, we're not gonna let it happen.

- Amen.

- No.

(pencil scratching) (bell pinging) (mellow music) - You know, one thing about this family, they had a, although it looks messy, they got a lot of structure.

- Yeah, yeah.

- To it.

- Yeah, I mean, things are together, you know.

It's just, Matt.

- Yeah.

What did you find over there?

Oh, I wonder if that's the prayer book or that's the family bible?

- No.

- Oh my gosh.

It's Denise's Bible.

Wow.

- And I imagine this is what kind of makes the work hard for Lisa and Kim to find things like this.

- Yeah, I wouldn't want to go through this room either.

- I'm, I'm, you know, it's just hard not to picture this little girl holding this Bible in this church.

And this bomb is going off.

It's really hard to imagine what the McNairs went through in that moment.

That could have been my little girls.

I'm not sure I would've had the same grace.

Oh, bro.

This particular job is probably had me the most excited and in feeling the most pain all in one.

You know, I think people forget sometimes that it's humans attached to these stories.

- Yeah.

- Like, it's people who have experienced these moments and gone through.

And I think when you hear it in the classroom sometimes it's just you understand what happened.

You understand that there was a loss of life.

Then you move on to the next chapter.

- The fact that she wrote it in her handwriting on the side.

And when you're a little kid, you put your name on it because you don't have anything.

- Exactly.

- You're happy to have it.

- You're happy.

Yeah.

- She was happy to have that.

- I might need a little break.

- Take it.

Why don't you take a minute.

Go break, go do whatever you need to do.

- Yeah.

I think I need a minute.

- Do your thing.

- I need a minute.

We know that Black families were terrorized in there own homes.

In the face of death, tragedy, they persevered.

I'm here because of them.

Those are the heroes.

Those are heroes.

(mellow music) - Yeah, this is the Congressional gold medal that was given to the family by the Obama administration and Congress.

Nothing gets voted unanimously by Congress these days.

There they are.

Lisa and their mom.

Look, there she is with President Obama.

Every family has history.

This family is history.

(pencil scratching) (bell pinging) (mellow music) - [Announcer] The Congressional gold medal is the highest civilian honor that Congress can bestow.

First given out in 1776, early medals honored those who distinguished themselves in battle.

Later, Congress expanded the range of honorees to recognized excellence in all kinds of worthy fields.

Thomas Edison received the medal for being a prolific inventor.

He's best known for developing the phonograph.

His less celebrated designs include the world's biggest rock crusher, and a doll that sang nursery rhymes.

Rosa Parks was given a medal for standing up for herself by remaining seated.

She said the medal was encouragement for all of us to continue until all have rights.

Other recipients may be lesser known, but their accomplishments are still significant.

The Navajo Code Talkers received Congressional gold medals for communicating secret intelligence during World War II.

For her contributions to medical research, Mary Lasker received the Congressional gold medal.

In the 1940s, cancer was taboo, barely talked about outside the family.

Lasker not only helped lift the stigma, she successfully lobbied the government to fund research.

(bell pinging) One of the youngest awardees was Roland Boucher who received the prize for rescuing friends who had fallen through the ice of Lake Champlain.

When asked how it felt to be a hero, Roland humbly replied, "I would rather be at home."

Congressional gold medals have been given out to distinguished honorees ranging from war heroes to world leaders, to four little girls who became a flashpoint in the fight for equal rights.

- Now that we've had a chance to go through some of the things in the garage, I wanted to pull Lisa aside and start going through the closets.

When's the last time you've really looked in these closets?

- I was in there the week Mama died looking for something that I hadn't been able to find and I didn't go very far.

- Yeah.

- But that was the last time I was in this one.

- Okay.

And I just kind of wanna talk about, you know, where you are in the process of letting go of those things that belong to mom.

And I noticed some of dad's stuff still in the closet as well in the bedroom.

- Right, right, right.

- So kind of talk me through where you're getting stuck.

- Okay.

What we need to do is pick some that we're going to keep.

- Okay.

- Not that we're going to wear them.

- Right.

- But I had an idea that I wanted to have quilts made of some of their clothes.

One of each parent for me and my sister.

- I love that idea.

- Thank you.

So we need to go through here and decide what clothes would make the best quilt.

And then the rest of 'em we would give away.

- Yeah.

It's really important to go through closets from top to bottom, because you really never know what you're gonna find.

Like this debutante ball gown.

- It's a debutante dress that I wore at the debutante ball and my mom was part of the first class of African Americans here in Birmingham to be debutantes.

She and the Imperial Club started it.

- Wow.

- And so when it came my turn, I said, "Well, I wanna honor mom and be a legacy."

- Yeah.

- And be a debutante.

So this was my dress.

- And what year was that approximately?

How long have you been saving this?

- '83, '82, '83.

- Okay.

- Yeah, yeah.

Mama went to the store, this gown store, and took me and one of her best friends who sewed and she had a little notebook and a pencil.

And once we found the dress that she wanted me to have, she drew the dress in a notebook and then took it home and made this dress for me.

- Wow.

- Yeah.

- So this is like a one of a kind.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Becoming a debutante.

It's traditionally been a white societal thing.

Talk me through like what the significance of that was for your mom and then for you.

- Well, I think it's often downplayed that Black people didn't have class.

We weren't sophisticated, we weren't smart, but we are.

And we were.

And we cared about things.

And we wanted to have class, and culture and education just like anybody else.

So I was very proud to be able to represent the family and do that.

- [Announcer] Young women of means have been attending debutante balls for hundreds of years.

It was a way for them to be introduced to society.

It was also a way for a family to announce their daughter's willingness to marry into an exclusive aristocratic circle.

With origins in England, Debutante balls first appeared in the US in the early 19th century and became especially popular in southern society.

The Christmas cotillion in Savannah, Georgia is known to be one of the oldest in America, beginning in 1817.

These formal affairs were intended to show off a young woman's etiquette and grace.

The dress code, a floor length ballgown and long white gloves, of course.

Most debutantes performed the classic curtsy.

But some Texas ladies take it to the extreme with the Texas dip.

In this elaborate curtsy, the Deb lowers herself practically all the way to the ground and bows with her arms outstretched.

That's no easy task in heels.

The first official Black debutante ball took place in New Orleans in 1895.

These coming out events served a different purpose than that of their white counterparts.

Black communities reclaimed the ritual to focus less on marriage and more on demonstrating achievements.

Debutantes gained mentors and performed community service.

These ceremonies were seen as a celebration of young Black women.

By the 1930s, debutante balls were a mainstay in Black social circles due in large part to the efforts of Black sororities, fraternities, and community organizations that would host them.

In today's modern society, debutante balls are no longer appealing to many young women who see the custom as outdated.

But there are many others who embrace the idea of one day being the belle of the ball.

(upbeat music) - Now that the work in the house is almost complete, Jaime, Avi and I are gonna go to the 16th Street Baptist Church.

- This is such a huge part of the family's history and we really needed to be in the space where it all started.

- I think it's a way to really connect ourselves more to the family and also the community.

- How are ya?

- Wonderful, yourself?

Thank for meeting us, doing great.

- Reverend Price, thank you for having us here and letting us in.

- You're quite welcome.

- To the church.

We've been at the McNair House and we're finding so much history and of course it all leads back to here.

- Well, Maxine McNair was a member at the 16th Street Baptist Church and she was a faithful member.

So that's not surprising that you would find things that relate to the church in their household.

- I know you've been here for 20 years and when you arrived, what did you find when you got here?

I found the church wanted to be more than being a museum.

- Right.

- But also wanted to be known as being the active ministry.

So, the challenge was to make the story a part of history.

People got angry, but they turned their anger into activism.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- They turned their anger into action.

- Right.

- Yes.

they were angry that the church was bombed.

Yes, they were angry that four girls lost their lives, but they began to advocate for the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

They began to advocate for the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the bitter days of Birmingham became better days.

And the lesson that was taught that day, a love that forgives, is a lesson that this church has been living out.

- I love these moments of outreach, you know, where the church could have easily insulated itself, but instead you turn outward and you show God's love through your openness, through your ability and willingness to continue to connect with the community.

- This congregation for decades has really turned tragedy into triumph.

For me, being in Birmingham for the first time, I'm really realizing how much happened here.

And I'm just curious, what's the story that you want people to walk away knowing?

- That Birmingham is a part of the American story.

- Yeah.

- That the story of Birmingham is just as important as the story in Philadelphia with the Liberty Bell.

Just as important as what happened at the Boston Harbor with the Tea Party, at Gettysburg, at Valley Forge.

That Americans have always fought for freedom of justice.

And foot soldiers was on the front line to make sure that African Americans who were different would not be viewed deficient.

And they wanted to make sure that they were a part of that American Dream.

And that happened here in Birmingham, Alabama.

- Well, Reverend Price, I'm just thankful that you've given us this opportunity, you know, just to sharing your space, the space that God has given Alabama.

- You're quite welcome.

Thank you for coming.

And thank you for getting our story out to the masses.

♪ The sweet, sweet touch of Heaven ♪ - The 16th Street Baptist Church once representing tragedy, but now more than ever, it represents unity.

- Yeah, there.

♪ The sweet, sweet touch of love ♪ - History is evolving and yes, it repeats itself.

And that's the scary part.

- I mean, I don't remember like the specific lesson on.

- If there was one.

- If there was one.

Exactly.

- Yeah.

- Oh, it was a line item in a book.

- Yeah.

- If you don't educate yourself, this will happen again.

But if you go and you learn and you experience and you meet the people and you learn the tragedy and you learn the love, that's when change happens.

(mellow music) - While Matt and the rest of the team are at the church, it's time for me and my crew to get Lisa and Kim in the garage to make some really hard decisions.

What is your ultimate goal with this space?

- Lisa wanted a car to fit in here.

- Okay.

- But I don't have that expectation.

I would just like to see there to be some order and catering things be better organized.

- Kim and Lisa's expectations for the garage are pretty reasonable.

But that doesn't mean it's gonna be easy.

Let's talk about the record player.

- Okay.

- Bad news is, this doesn't work.

- Okay, go, not keep.

- All right.

- But I want the records that are inside.

- Records, of course.

We're gonna save those.

Okay, I see catering cart.

- Keep.

- Okay.

I geek out on posters y'all.

(Lisa and Kim laughing) I'm just being honest with you.

- So do you still want them or?

- I don't think so.

You know, some of-- - Poster geek, you might get a prize today, because I don't.

- Right.

- Those are.

- We can chuck it.

- Okay, very good.

- This can go.

It was a couple of nice sets, but that can go.

But now I need to see what the of this is.

(mellow music) - Are you okay?

- A lot of time clutter accumulates because of grief.

Well, this family has experienced a lot of grief.

(upbeat music) - I really hope this gives Kim and Lisa a jumpstart and I was honored to be a part of moving this family forward.

- You know, it's really amazing what Mike, his team and Kim and Lisa did together to get this garage cleaned out.

Although we didn't finish their parents' bedroom, we did give them kind of the start and the jump that they needed to finish the rest of the house on their own.

(mellow music) Y'all were more involved than we normally have families being.

How did it feel to go through the garage?

- It was a lot.

- Yeah, it's overwhelming, but it's like you're pushing through, you're doing the work.

- It's hard.

- Yeah, yeah.

- It's full for a reason.

- But I think it's a jump start for the two of us.

- We actually were purging, making decisions without them being emotional and as much as we could.

So it was nice to fill up a garbage can and put it on the road.

- I mean, y'all actually got rid of about 2000 pounds.

- Wow.

- Of stuff.

- That's awesome.

- Tell me about your mom.

It would take a heck of a woman to actually even be noticed next to your dad.

- Yeah, this is true.

- He was a presence.

- [Kim] Yes he was.

- And your mom absolutely stood on her own.

- You imagine your only child's been murdered.

I mean, she could very have easily have gone to her bed and stayed there, but she didn't.

And that really took a lot of guts and a lot of courage and a lot of strength and faith from within.

- Yeah.

- She treated everybody like they were important.

That everybody was just the same.

She gave them love and respect and you know, that's just, I think that's why so many people were in love with her.

- I know.

- I am gonna wear gloves, because some of the pictures we're gonna touch, some of the papers we're gonna touch, very important.

Unfortunately, I was unable to find the official recording of your mom singing.

- Oh.

- I did find.

- Her concert program.

- The concert.

- Oh good.

- [Matt] Even the Reverend said that she was a really good singer.

- She was excellent.

She could have been in New New York and the opera, but her dad didn't want her to go that far.

- And I noticed, guess who was the main sponsor on that.

(Lisa and Kim laughing) - I love it.

- That I thought that was the coolest part.

- That is very cool.

- [Matt] Your dad was the main sponsor.

Smart man.

- That's wonderful.

- But man, a lot of other local sponsors too.

- Yeah.

- That's awesome.

- This community came together.

- Yeah.

- Everybody put a dollar or two in to make sure things would happen.

- That's awesome.

- Your dad was a character, obviously.

- Yeah.

- Mm-hmm.

- Tell me about your dad.

- He was really smart.

His mind was always turning turn and turn and turning.

He loved being out in the public and meeting people.

He loved people, he really did.

He genuinely loved everyone he met and connected with people in such a wonderful way.

He was a larger than life person.

- We found a lot of his cameras.

- That's awesome.

- That's beautiful.

- That's great.

- This is a nice camera.

He worked with some of the major magazines.

- Any daddy always had a lot going on.

So to get him to stop and put a collection together, we basically had to sit on him and make him select photographs that he would wanna show.

- Now we're onto color pictures of Martin Luther King's funeral.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Maybe y'all are used to how close you are to so much history.

- Yeah, we are.

- Yeah.

- We are.

- But there were so many other people, - Hundreds.

- who had a hand in making the change.

- Now we're gonna talk about the actual bombings.

These are some clippings we found.

It just really surprised me.

I mean, you pretty much, if it was in the paper, your mom has it.

- Yeah.

- She saved them all.

And then we got to read this from your mom.

This is all the telegrams.

And what amazed me is there were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of sympathies from around the world.

And then we found some, some pretty hateful telegrams as well.

People went out of their way to say negative things.

- Oh wow.

- And this is what I loved.

Your mom had a note on it and it said to forgive.

- Oh, that's awesome.

She was awesome like that.

- That was her.

She and a family friend were putting a bunch of these books together and I was just like, just the enormity of it all.

You know, it's just not something you want to just put in the trash.

When you see stuff like this, it's history.

- Talked about your mom, we've talked about your dad, we've talked about the bombing.

Wanna talk about your sister?

- Okay.

- Denise.

You never met her, but of course you know her.

This picture was pretty iconic.

It was in the "Look Magazine".

We did find the doll.

- Oh, that is the doll.

- It was in the garage.

Such an iconic thing for a little girl.

- Mm-hmm.

- This is a museum quality thing.

I'll hand it to you.

- My hope is that people learn about the story of Denise and hear about it and feel the hurt that we experienced and realize how bad it was.

You know, racism is where its ugly head again in the last few years.

And we have to look to these events to remember, oh yeah, okay, let me pull it back my anger.

Let me try to talk to my neighbor or my friend about something and not go there.

Because that can lead to such terrible things.

- I looked and looked for your mom's prayer book and I could not find it.

- Oh.

- We found this buried in your mom's stuff.

Believe this is your sister's.

- Oh, her Bible.

- But it's got her name written.

- Hmm.

- That's cool.

- Did y'all know this was here?

- No.

- No.

- This is a letter.

I think that's your mom's handwriting.

- Mm.

- Oh wow.

It says, "My gloves and handkerchief "someone gave me September 15th, 1963."

That's the day of the bomb.

- That's the day.

I'll take a look at it.

This.

- Wow.

- In a strange way reminds me of Jackie Kennedy standing up there with blood on her clothes.

- Totally.

- You know, and look how dirty they are.

She was probably like walking around trying to find her.

Wow.

You know, we have the piece of concrete.

That was, it hit her in the head.

And we have it on loan to the Civil Rights Institute.

And you know, when I hear people say that, "Oh, this isn't real.

It isn't history.

It didn't happen."

You know, like, no, it really did.

It really did happen.

- Then we found this, the Congressional Gold medal.

- Okay.

- This is a big deal.

- Yeah, it is.

- Trophies aren't what matter.

It's what you did to get the trophy that matters.

You come from such a big family.

Like even last name means so much.

I think good comes at everything, but sometimes it takes longer to find it.

- Mm-hmm.

- What good did come outta all of this?

- I think the ability to, for people to see hate right there on its face and realize, whoa, I might have participated in some of that.

Let me change the way that I think.

So I think the changing of of the lives of others is part of the good that has come from this.

♪ One thing that I learned ♪ This life was made for love ♪ No good on my own ♪ And we need each other - I think some other good things happened, too.

(Kim and Lisa laughing) - Who are these pretty ladies?

- That's us.

- At a piano recital.

- That painting sitting right behind you.

It's a road, "Corner of Tragedy and Triumph".

I'll remember this one.

I help a lot of people, but I'll remember this one for the rest of my life.

The downsizing part of this, Let's keep working at it slowly, because I don't want this house to hold you back from the difference y'all could make in the world.

- Right.

- It'd be silly.

- And it won't.

Well, we thank you all.

This has been just a pleasure.

Everybody's been awesome work with.

- It's amazing.

I'm excited to stay in touch with y'all.

- Please do.

- Yes, absolutely.

- Anything we can do to help, please let us know.

Thank you.

♪ All right, all right, it'll be ♪ - [Announcer] Funding for "Legacy List" is provided by Bekins Van Lines at Bekins, our goal is to provide a smooth and simple moving experience.

No matter the size or distance of your move.

Bekins is ready to help you get there.

You can find us at bekins.com.

Bekins, this is moving.

FirstLight Home Care committed to providing safe and compassionate home services for you and your family.

FirstLight believes personal relationships and engagement are as important as mobility, bathing, and personal hygiene.

Details at firstlighthomecare.com.

♪ All right, all right, all right ♪ ♪ All right, all right ♪ It'll be all right, all right, all right ♪ ♪ All right, all right.

♪ It'll be all right, all right, all right ♪ ♪ All right, all right ♪ It'll be all right, all right, all right ♪ ♪ All right, all right, it'll be ♪ - [Announcer] Visit mylegacylist.com to learn more about this show and the tips, tools, and resources to help you or a loved one with big life transitions like this one.

That's www.mylegacylist.com.

(upbeat music)