Destination: Civil Rights

Slavery, boycotts, assassinations, separate but equal. Established in 1991, the National Civil Rights Museum is located at the former Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in April of 1968. While many of us know the major turning points of the Civil Rights Movement, this is a comprehensive deep dive into both major and lesser-known events. The museum details the history of uprisings that pushed national civil rights forward and its impact on our culture, and the foundation of America, today. This Memphis museum houses over 260 artifacts and more than 40 films and other forms of media in place to guide visitors through the history of Black America from slavery until present day, through the Civil War, Reconstruction, the rise of Jim Crow, and more. Much of the museum is housed in the old Lorraine Motel which was renovated in 2014. Visitors can see room 306 where Dr. Martin Luther King spent his final hours before his assasination. Visitors can also visit the Legacy Building where the assassins shot was allegedly fired from, to view a chronological timeline of Dr. King’s life up until the horrific event, as well as exhibits on the American Civil Rights movement. Admission to the museum is $17 for adults, with discounted rates for Seniors and Children.

One of Martin Luther King Jr.’s favorite spots to grab a bite, this soul food restaurant has been serving southern comforts since 1946. Make sure you get the lemon meringue pie - it’s said to have been one of Dr. King’s favorites.

Washington DC’s Smithsonian museum on African American History and Culture is a must visit on your tour of Black history in the United States. With exhibits on many of the prominent figureheads of the American Civil Rights Movement, including Dr. Martin Luther King, as well as exhibits on those who made history that we do not know their names. Visiting the museum is free, but you must acquire a Timed Entry Pass to visit. You can obtain them by reserving them online, or by phone at 1-844-750-3023.

The first ever memorial in the United States built to honor a Black person, this powerful homage to to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. consists of a 30 foot statue surrounded by large boulders, engraved with some of his most famous quotes. In the spring time, cherry blossoms bloom all around the memorial.

This monument has stood tall through many pieces of America’s history, but one of the most famous is the day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood on its steps and gave his “I Have a Dream” speech to more than a quarter million people who were marching on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Marian Anderson also was there that day, singing the national anthem.

This church was where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was baptized and became ordained. He also served as pastor here for the last 8 years of his life before he was assasinated in 1968.

Established in 1968 by Coretta Scott King, the same year that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. This center for Nonviolent Social Change pays homage to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his belief system in nonviolent protest and action for the American Civil Rights Movement. Here you can visit the King Crypt, constructed in Georgia marble, and the Eternal Flame symbolizing the continuing effort to realize Dr. King’s dream. The site also houses Freedom Hall, an exhibition on Dr. King’s life.

The National Center for Civil and Human Rights, which opened in 2014, is a museum and human rights organization in Atlanta that inspires people to tap their own power to change the world around them. The Center’s iconic exhibitions feature the papers and artifacts of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; the history of the US civil rights movement; and stories from the struggle for human rights around the world today.

In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spent 8 days here for protesting without a permit. It was during this time that he wrote the letters which would later become known as “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. Photo from the Atlantic.

Here you can view many of the important documents, oral histories, and exhibits showcasing the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham, including the actual doors from the jail cell that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was kept in when he wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”.

The Edmund Pettus Bridge was the site of two horrific events which stand in infamy in American History and in the history of the Civil Rights Movement. In February of 1965, Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot in the stomach during a confrontation of armed state troopers and Selma locals against some 400 unarmed Black protestors who were protesting a lack of voting rights for Blacks in Alabama. When Dr. Marting Luther King Jr. heard about the confrontation, he planned and lead a march a month later from Selma to the Alabama Capitol building in Montgomery, which crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge. While the peaceful marchers were crossing the bridge, they were attacked by police and Selma locals alike in an event that became known as Bloody Sunday. Televised accounts of this attack were presented both nationally and internationally and gave rise to support for the Selma Voting Rights Movement.

Originally founded in a slave trader’s pen in 1877, this church was the place where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as pastor about a century later. It was here that he planned the bus boycott and many of his other efforts to protest the country’s lack of civil rights for Black people.

Informally known as “The Lynching Museum” this memorial is the first commemoration of the horrific number of men, women, and children who have been murdered because of the color of their skin in the United States. The memorial was opened in 2018, largely designed and funded by donations and the Equal Justice Initiative. It features 805 hanging steel coffin shaped rectangles - one for every county where a documented lynching took place leading up to 2018. Attached to the memorial is the Legacy Museum which showcases the history of racism in America.

Opened on the same day as the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, the Legacy Museum shows the history of racism in America, from slavery through the Civil Rights Era, to the present. The museum sit prominently on a site where enslaved people were once held in Montgomery, a short distance from one of the largest slave auctions in America. The museum is free to visit.