Exploring human rights violations in areas of conflict is a very challenging endeavor as the consequences of conflict wreak havoc on communities and the built environment. When sacred space, specifically, has been intentionally and maliciously damaged, a group's right to cultural heritage has been potentially violated. As laid out by numerous international covenants, this is a denial of basic human rights. Therefore, using international human rights laws to set precedents, definitions and guidelines, the preservation of a sacred space after intentional damage can help protect those rights and rectify a wrong committed against a group. Studying the racially motivated bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama as a case study and using human rights legislation to frame preservation work in general, the inherent yet complicated connection between historic preservation and human rights can be explored and understood.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2008. / "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a degree of doctor of philosophy in the Department of History." Discipline: History; Department/School: History.