As we observe the birthday of one of many nice Civil Rights leaders in america, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I needed to share a number of the Civil Rights websites that it’s best to go to together with your youngsters if you wish to elevate them to be anti-racist. N
ot everybody can do a full on Civil Rights highway journey alongside the Civil Rights Path, like we did one summer time. And, whereas the repetition actually drives the message house, you additionally don’t want to go to each sight to show the lesson that must be discovered.
So I assumed it could be useful to summarize a number of the notable civil rights sights across the nation — maybe not too removed from house. With in the present day’s political local weather, I really feel like it’s as vital as ever to go to these points of interest and achieve a real appreciation for the violence and hatred the courageous contributors of the motion confronted and why the battle nonetheless persists in the present day.
All of us have one thing to realize by trying again, evaluating to the current, and being activated to combat for a greater world sooner or later.
Visiting these websites is made simpler with the newly launched US Civil Rights Path. This path covers greater than 100 areas throughout 14 states. I’ve lined a couple of of those under, in addition to some further websites to contemplate.
Earlier than you go to, I might additionally extremely advocate investing in a replica of U.S. Civil Rights Path: A Traveler’s Information to the Folks, Locations, and Occasions that Made the Motion, printed in 2021 from Moon Journey Guides. This publish was written in partnership with Moon Journey Guides, all opinions are my very own.
Civil Rights Websites in america
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Washington DC
That is the primary memorial on the Nationwide Mall to honor an African-American. The design of MLK’s picture rising from a mountain got here from a hyperlink in his well-known “I Have a Dream” speech, the place he states, “With this religion, we can hew out of a mountain of despair a stone of hope.” The carved mountain has a slice pulled out, symbolizing the “stone of hope.”
The memorial additionally connects a line between the Lincoln Memorial, the place Luther made his well-known speech, and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, one authors of the Declaration of Independence which was referenced in that speech. When you are there you can too go to the Nationwide Museum of African American Historical past and Tradition.
See my 3-day Washington D.C. itinerary.
John Brown’s Fort, Harper’s Ferry, WV
Should you observe the trail to the civil rights motion all the best way again to the pre-Civil Warfare days of the abolitionist motion it can lead you to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. Hannah and I ended right here on the best way again from our two-week highway journey by Virginia.
We fell in love with this stunning city, and its fascinating historical past. Learn extra about our go to to Harpers Ferry.
Worldwide Civil Rights Middle & Museum, Greensboro, NC
I first discovered about this museum this summer time after I met with the PR workforce for Go to Greensboro. There have been loads of cool issues about this city however what stunned me was a civil rights museum I had by no means heard of.
They’ve taken the unique Woolworth’s constructing and turned it into the Worldwide Civil Rights Middle & Museum to commemorate the A&T 4 and their position in launching the sit-in motion, protecting the unique footprint of the seats and lunch counter.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park, Indianapolis, IN
There’s a park simply north of downtown Indianapolis with an unimaginable sculpture devoted to each Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, and the way their tragic historical past was so intertwined. On the night time of King’s assassination, RFK was as a consequence of ship a marketing campaign speech to an viewers in an Indianapolis park that was principally individuals of colour.
His phrases inspired the gang to proceed the legacy of Dr. King and is credited with protecting Indianapolis peaceable that night time, when so many different cities erupted in riots. The speech is highly effective, and I like that the sculpture itself continues their legacy as peacemakers, and the way we are able to work collectively towards that imaginative and prescient.
Submitted by Nicole Wiltrout, Arrows Despatched Forth
Outdated Courthouse, St. Louis, MO
Whereas St. Louis could also be finest recognized for its skyline-defining Arch, it additionally has a wealthy historical past of civil rights struggles together with the landmark Dred Scott trials. In 1847, Mr. Scott filed go well with in opposition to his homeowners for his freedom. He misplaced his first case which was tried within the Outdated Courthouse, however he was granted permission for a re-trial by the Missouri Supreme Court docket. His case ultimately went to the U.S. Supreme Court docket the place he ultimately received his freedom in 1857. The choice was a significant turning level in American historical past as tensions between the North and South grew. Civil struggle broke out shortly thereafter on April 12, 1861.
Should you’re visiting the Jefferson Nationwide Growth Memorial, you should definitely take a while to stroll by the Outdated Courthouse additionally. It’s solely a brief stroll away and it’s a captivating look again on the historical past of race and justice in America. Even when historical past isn’t your factor, the structure is unbelievable. Think about visiting between Flag Day and Independence Day the place the courthouse is embellished prime to backside with American flags.
See different issues to do in St. Louis.
Submitted by: Carrick Buss, Alongside for the Journey
Nationwide Civil Rights Museum on the Lorraine Motel, Memphis, TN
Whereas many civil rights employees and lunch counter protesters had been educated in Nashville, the higher website to go to is in Memphis. The Nationwide Civil Rights Museum on the Lorraine Motel, the place the place Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, needs to be in your prime two Civil Rights websites to go to.
It follows the timeline from the start of the slave commerce by the purpose of MLK Jr.’s assassination overlooking the rooms he occupied within the Lorraine Motel and the balcony the place he was shot. It touches on all the key moments of the motion, from the Bus Boycott to the Freedom Rides, the Selma March, the bombings in Birmingham and the lynchings and killings alongside the best way. It’s a highly effective expertise and by the point you look into the place Dr. King spent his final moments, it’s onerous to carry again tears.
See my 3-days in Memphis itinerary.
Brown v. Board of Schooling Nationwide Historic Website, Topeka, KS
The Monroe Elementary Faculty was one among 4 segregated elementary faculties for black kids in Topeka. To memorialize the landmark Supreme Court docket Case of Brown v. Board of Schooling, which ended authorized segregation of colleges, this college was reopened in 2004 as a Nationwide Historic Website and civil rights interpretive middle.
Your go to begins with a 30-minute movie Race and the American Creed, which traces the historical past of racism and segregation. Different displays look at the challenges African Individuals confronted whereas making an attempt to obtain a proper training earlier than the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court docket choice, the legacy of Brown v Board of Schooling, and an instance kindergarten classroom.
Little Rock Central Excessive Faculty Nationwide Historic Website, Little Rock, AR
Arkansas has its personal Civil Rights Heritage Path, with fairly a couple of websites in Little Rock, together with the Clinton Presidential Middle, Little Rock 9 Memorial on the State Capitol, and the Little Rock Central Excessive Faculty Nationwide Historic Website.
That is the place the “Little Rock 9”, the 9 African-American college students to first be built-in into this all-white highschool, confronted down the state Nationwide Guard and offended protesters who tried to dam their means. Immediately, this still-functioning college is a Nationwide Historic Website and civil rights museum with ranger-led excursions.
Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, Jackson, MS
You possibly can hint Mississippi’s civil rights journey on the Mississippi Freedom Path. In Jackson, you may go to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Whereas the museum covers the complete Civil Rights Motion, particular consideration is given to the murders of Medgar Evers and Emmett Until.
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, AL
The Birmingham Civil Proper Institute additionally traces the trail of the Civil Proper Motion, however this time with particular consideration paid to the historical past in Alabama. It covers Birmingham’s very segregated historical past and as soon as once more walks by the key moments of the motion.
Whereas pretty easy, this museum was Hannah’s favourite on our civil rights highway journey. After a go to, you should definitely take a stroll by the Kelly Ingram Park throughout the road and soak up its highly effective monuments and memorials. You may as well go to the sixteenth Road Baptist Church, the place 4 younger women had been murdered in a bombing.
Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, AL
I might advocate watching the film Selma earlier than strolling throughout Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. There isn’t a lot else to see, besides a small interpretive middle on the foot of the bridge, however seeing the bridge in individual after studying about its historical past is an emotional second.
Rosa Parks Museum, Montgomery, AL
Within the state capital of Montgomery, you may go to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s church, the location of Rosa Parks’ arrest and the courthouse of Choose Frank M. Johnson Jr. For museums, the very best is the Rosa Parks Museum, which does a superb job of utilizing video to inform the story of Rosa Parks and the start of the Montgomery bus boycott.
I assumed I knew the story of Rosa Parks however I used to be improper. There have been so many info that I discovered that gave much more which means to the actions of this brave lady. After the Rosa Parks Museum, you may go to the small Freedom Rides Museum to get the complete story of the Freedom Riders and their bravery.
Tuskegee Airmen Nationwide Historic Website, Tuskegee, AL
You probably have youngsters which might be into aviation, that is the proper combo of aviation and historical past. Moton Discipline in Tuskegee was house to an “experiment” to search out out if African-Individuals could possibly be educated to be fight pilots. The Tuskegee Airmen fought in World Warfare II as the primary African-American army aviators within the nation’s historical past.
Immediately, the hangars at Moton Discipline home artifacts associated to the Tuskegee Airmen and you’ll even see a aircraft they flew. A pal of mine visited this previous summer time and her youngsters actually loved this website.
Nationwide Middle for Civil and Human Rights, Atlanta, GA
Of all of the museums and websites that I’ve visited, the Nationwide Middle for Civil and Human Rights is actually one among my favorites. As a result of it’s comparatively new, the displays are very trendy and interactive. Essentially the most highly effective of all is the lunch counter exhibit. Guests have to be 13 to take part, as it is rather emotional. As you sit down, you don headphones, place your palms on the lunch counter, and shut your eyes. It makes it appear as if individuals are throughout you, screaming in your ears and hitting the again of your chair. It’s uncooked and disturbing and places you within the sneakers of a protestor the best way nothing else can.
I additionally actually loved the Human Rights exhibit, which talked in regards to the ongoing battle for human rights world wide, profiling each essentially the most evil violators of these rights, and the strongest advocates.
See my Atlanta with teenagers itinerary.
Ladies’s Rights Nationwide Historic Park, Seneca Falls, NY
I can’t discuss Civil Rights with out additionally together with girls’s rights. A few years in the past, we visited Seneca Falls, house to the Ladies’s Rights Nationwide Historic Park and the Nationwide Ladies’s Corridor of Fame.
Right here you may find out about girls’s battle for equal rights and the appropriate to vote. If you wish to be impressed by a bunch of highly effective, sensible, and courageous girls, undoubtedly embody a cease on the Nationwide Ladies’s Corridor of Fame.
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