The Ballard - Hamilton House and Office (Birmingham, Alabama)

African American Civil Rights Network

The Ballard-Hamilton House and Office in Birmingham, Alabama is a cultural space dedicated to honoring the heritage, voices, and contributions of Birmingham's African American community from the city's founding to and through the African American Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham.

The Ballard-Hamilton House and Office in Birmingham, Alabama was built in the 1940s by African American contractor Leroy S. Gillard for Dr. Edward H. Ballard, a black pediatrician and obstetrician. Dr. Ballard sold the house to Mrs. Jessie Perkins in 1949. Mrs. Perkins rented rooms in the house to doctors and civic and social groups and the house became a lively gathering spot for Birmingham’s African American community.

In 1959, Dr. Herschell L. Hamilton moved his medical practice to the Ballard House. Dr. Hamilton was the first board certified African American general surgeon to practice in the state of Alabama and was a well-known and respected figure within the African American community. During the African American Civil Rights Movement protests in Birmingham, he became known as the “Battlefield Surgeon”. Dr. Hamilton treated, among others, Movement leaders, the Freedom Riders beaten at the Birmingham bus terminal, the peaceful demonstrators injured in the 1963 "Project C" demonstrations. and the participants in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches.

Dr. Hamilton practiced medicine in Birmingham for 40 years, never turning away a patient. The Ballard House was eventually bought by the Hamilton family and is managed by the Ballard House Project as the Ballard Hamilton House and Office. The Project is dedicated to gathering, documenting, and sharing the history of how African Americans in Birmingham and elsewhere lived, worked, socialized, and served their communities before, during, and after the African American Civil Rights Movement.

The Ballard - Hamilton House and Office became part of the African American Civil Rights Network in December of 2022.

The African American Civil Rights Network recognizes the African American Civil Rights Movement in the United States and the sacrifices made by those who fought against discrimination and segregation. Created by the African American Civil Rights Act of 2017, and coordinated by the National Park Service, the Network tells the stories of the people, places, and events of the U.S. African American Civil Rights Movement through a collection of public and private resources to include properties, facilities, and programs.