2023 marks the 60th anniversary of a tumultous year in Alabama — and the United States.

The Birmingham campaign — which prominently featured students and educators — drew the eyes of the world to the violent segregation regime in that city.

Through 1963, civil rights foot soldiers used lessons from conflicts with police, segregationists, city officials and courts to push for change across Alabama. In June, two students defied Gov. George Wallace to enroll at the University of Alabama. In August and September, families finally won court orders to send Black children to white public schools in some districts (see memories from a Birmingham student). And in January 1964, Harold Franklin became the first Black student to enroll at Auburn.

Alabama journalists have covered anniversaries of these events, and the meetings, protests, marches and bombings that surrounded them. A 2013 national oral history effort uncovered a lot of stories; other efforts have tackled Birmingham and Mobile. (If there’s an online repository that covers the whole state, please let me know!)

But this year, the Ed Lab and AL.com want to try something a little bit different — and we need your help.

Were you or a family member alive in Alabama in 1963? Help us collect stories from across the state!

You can help us in a few different ways:

Tell us your story. Use this form to share a memory or photo (or just email them directly back to this email). It can be from you or from a family member, or a story a family member told you.

Interview a family member. Use this template to ask a few questions and record the responses.

Get students involved. Teachers, we’d love your help. Do your students ever interview community members for a social studies project? Can your K-12 classroom help us reach more people? Reach out to me at [email protected].

Share our callout. Forward this post to a few friends or share one of our social media posts.

Fund our work. Journalists working on this project are grant- and donor-supported. Show your appreciation and help us keep work free to readers by contributing to AL.com today.

We’d love to collect memories from civil rights foot soldiers who were involved in marches, protests, sit ins and more. We’d also love to hear any stories about how your educational experience changed.

But we’re also looking for memories and photos that capture everyday life that year: Family gatherings, birthday parties, weddings, school events, sports games and more. What’s a strong memory of something that happened? Is there a family story you’d like to share? Dig through your family photo album! Check your class yearbook!

Have other ideas for a partnership or want to make sure we know about a resource? Please reach out.