Alabama NewsCenter — Jeff Drew recalls his youth on Birmingham’s ‘Dynamite Hill,’ hosting MLK and integrating Ensley High

By Joseph Allen and Bruce Nix

Jeff Drew grew up on Birmingham’s “Dynamite Hill” in the 1950s and 1960s during some of the darkest days of the battle to dismantle the city’s system of segregated housing. The Smithfield community gained its ugly nickname because of multiple bombings conducted by the Ku Klux Klan to try to scare off Black families who were working to integrate the neighborhood. Drew’s family was often threatened by the Klan, and their house became a secret meeting place for civil rights activists, including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who stayed frequently at the home.

As a young boy, Drew had no clue that King, whom he called “Uncle Mike,” would become a monumental figure in the cause of equal justice and human rights. But when Drew grew to be a teenager and King asked him to help integrate all-white Ensley High School, there was no hesitation.

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