African American civil rights

The journey in one line

19 places on this journey in United States so far. The first rung is 4 of them, and the list keeps growing.

This is the one American heritage journey many families already take as a road trip. It runs through Birmingham, Selma, Montgomery, Memphis, Atlanta, Jackson and Little Rock, and it can be driven in a fortnight or picked up over years. The places on it are churches that still hold services, schools that still teach children, a motel balcony, a bridge, and museums built to hold what happened. Several are run by the National Park Service; several are run by the congregations and communities themselves. The list is ordered roughly as people travel it, not by importance.

Between the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965, ordinary people in these towns made segregation impossible to defend. The cost was real. Four girls were killed in the basement of a Birmingham church. Marchers were beaten on a bridge in Selma. A man was shot on a balcony in Memphis. The movement was not only its famous names, and these places make that plain. They are full of the ordinary names on the membership rolls, the bail lists and the plaintiff lines.

Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma sit close together and are usually done in one loop. Memphis, Jackson and the Mississippi Delta form a second. Atlanta, Greensboro and Topeka are separate trips. Active churches show visitors around outside service times, usually on a fixed tour schedule. Several National Park Service sites have limited hours and small visitor centres.

Where it goes

The places on this journey

What a visit means here. A visit means entering the named church, museum, park site or memorial. Progress is counted quietly as places on this journey visited.

1. 1

   16th Street Baptist Church

   Birmingham, Alabama, United States

   

   The church was the organising centre for the Birmingham campaign of 1963. On 14 September that year a bomb placed under the steps killed Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley. The congregation still worships here and the building stands inside Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument.

   What counts as a visit

   The church, on its visitor tour, and the surrounding monument district.

   Access

   An active congregation. Tours run at set times on weekdays and not during services. Checked 2026-09-16.

   A place of reflection

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

2. 2

   Edmund Pettus Bridge

   Selma, Alabama, United States

   

   On 7 March 1965 state troopers beat marchers at the far end of this bridge as they set out for Montgomery to demand the vote. Film of the attack ran on national television that night. Two weeks later the march left again and reached the capitol. The bridge is the start of the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail.

   What counts as a visit

   Walking the bridge, and the trail interpretive centres along the route.

   Access

   A working road bridge with narrow footways. The National Park Service runs interpretive centres in Selma and along the route. Checked 2026-09-16.

   A place of reflection

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

3. 3

   National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel

   Memphis, Tennessee, United States

   

   Martin Luther King Jr was killed on the balcony outside room 306 on 4 April 1968. The motel was saved from demolition and opened as a museum in 1991, with the balcony left as it was and the galleries running from the Atlantic trade to the present day.

   What counts as a visit

   The museum galleries, including the preserved rooms and balcony.

   Access

   Closed on some weekdays and holidays; timed tickets are usual. Checked 2026-09-16.

   A place of reflection

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

4. 4

   Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park

   Atlanta, Georgia, United States

   

   The park covers a few blocks of Sweet Auburn: the house where King was born, the Ebenezer Baptist Church where he and his father preached, and the tomb where he and Coretta Scott King are buried. Ebenezer's congregation still meets nearby.

   What counts as a visit

   The visitor centre, the birth home tour, Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church and the tomb.

   Access

   Birth home tours are limited and often booked out early in the day. Checked 2026-09-16.

   A place of reflection

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

5. 5

   Kelly Ingram Park

   Birmingham, Alabama, United States

   

   The park faces 16th Street Baptist Church. In May 1963 children marching out of the church were met here with dogs and fire hoses, and the pictures changed the national argument. Sculptures set along the paths mark what happened where.

   What counts as a visit

   The open park and its sculpture walk.

   Access

   An open city park, always approachable. Checked 2026-09-16.

   A place of reflection

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

6. 6

   The Legacy Museum

   Montgomery, Alabama, United States

   

   The Equal Justice Initiative's museum draws the line from the domestic slave trade through lynching and segregation to mass incarceration. It stands on the site of a warehouse where enslaved people were held, a short walk from the old slave market.

   What counts as a visit

   The museum galleries in Montgomery.

   Access

   Timed tickets; the museum and the memorial are separate buildings. Checked 2026-09-16.

   A place of reflection

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

7. 7

   National Memorial for Peace and Justice

   Montgomery, Alabama, United States

   

   Eight hundred hanging steel columns, one for each county where a racial terror lynching was recorded, each engraved with names and dates. Duplicate columns lie outside, waiting for counties to claim and install them.

   What counts as a visit

   The open-air memorial square and grounds.

   Access

   Outdoors and exposed to weather. Checked 2026-09-16.

   A place of reflection

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

8. 8

   Rosa Parks Museum

   Montgomery, Alabama, United States

   

   The museum stands on the corner where Rosa Parks was arrested on 1 December 1955 for refusing to give up her seat. It is run by Troy University and tells the story of the boycott that followed, which lasted 381 days and was organised by the city's Black women's political council.

   What counts as a visit

   The museum galleries and the children's wing.

   Access

   University hours; closed on Sundays and university holidays. Checked 2026-09-16.

   A place of reflection

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

9. 9

   Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church

   Montgomery, Alabama, United States

   

   Martin Luther King Jr was pastor here from 1954 to 1960, and the Montgomery bus boycott was organised from the church basement. The building sits a block from the Alabama state capitol. The congregation still worships here.

   What counts as a visit

   The sanctuary and the basement, on the church's guided tour.

   Access

   An active church. Tours run at set times by appointment and not during worship. Checked 2026-09-16.

   A place of reflection

   Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

10. 10

    Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site

    Little Rock, Arkansas, United States

    

    In September 1957 nine Black students enrolled at Central High and were blocked by the Arkansas National Guard until federal troops escorted them in. The school is still open and teaching, so the National Park Service runs the visitor centre across the street.

    What counts as a visit

    The visitor centre, and the school grounds on a ranger-led tour.

    Access

    A working high school. Interior tours are limited and must be booked; the visitor centre is open to all. Checked 2026-09-16.

    A place of reflection

    Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

11. 11

    International Civil Rights Center and Museum

    Greensboro, North Carolina, United States

    

    On 1 February 1960 four students from North Carolina A&T sat at the whites-only lunch counter in this Woolworth's and would not leave. Sit-ins spread to dozens of cities within weeks. The counter is still in place and the building is now the museum.

    What counts as a visit

    The museum galleries, including the preserved lunch counter.

    Access

    Guided tours at set times; closed some weekdays. Checked 2026-09-16.

    A place of reflection

    Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

12. 12

    Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park

    Topeka, Kansas, United States

    

    Monroe Elementary was one of the segregated schools at the centre of the case the Supreme Court decided in 1954, holding that separate schools were inherently unequal. The building is now the park's visitor centre, with the case told through the five lawsuits that were joined into it.

    What counts as a visit

    The visitor centre in the former Monroe Elementary School.

    Access

    Open most days; free entry. Checked 2026-09-16.

    A place of reflection

    Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

13. 13

    Mississippi Civil Rights Museum

    Jackson, Mississippi, United States

    

    Opened in 2017 and run by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, this is the first state-funded civil rights museum in the United States. Eight galleries circle a central space, and the state's own records are used to document what the state did.

    What counts as a visit

    The museum galleries, shared with the Museum of Mississippi History.

    Access

    Closed Mondays and state holidays. Checked 2026-09-16.

    A place of reflection

    Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

14. 14

    Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument

    Jackson, Mississippi, United States

    

    Medgar Evers was the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi. He was shot in his own driveway on 12 June 1963. The house in the Elraine subdivision, built for Black families who could not buy elsewhere, became a national monument in 2017.

    What counts as a visit

    The house, on a guided tour.

    Access

    A small site in a residential street. Tours are limited and booked in advance. Checked 2026-09-16.

    A place of reflection

    Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

15. 15

    Emmett Till Interpretive Center

    Sumner, Mississippi, United States

    Emmett Till was fourteen when he was murdered in the Mississippi Delta in 1955, and his killers were acquitted in the Tallahatchie County courthouse across the square. The centre was founded by a local commission that began by apologising to his family, and it works with the national monument the Park Service now manages here.

    What counts as a visit

    The interpretive centre, and the restored courthouse across the square.

    Access

    Open Tuesday to Saturday afternoons; the courthouse is shown by arrangement. Checked 2026-09-16.

    A place of reflection

    Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

16. 16

    Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail

    Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, United States

    

    Fifty-four miles of US Highway 80 between Selma and the Alabama state capitol, walked by marchers over five days in March 1965. Three interpretive centres stand along the route, including one at the Lowndes County campsite where families evicted for registering to vote lived in tents.

    What counts as a visit

    Any of the trail's interpretive centres, or the marked route itself.

    Access

    The centres have separate hours and some close midweek. Checked 2026-09-16.

    A place of reflection

    Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

17. 17

    Robert Russa Moton Museum

    Farmville, Virginia, United States

    

    In April 1951 the students of this segregated high school walked out over their tar-paper classrooms, led by sixteen-year-old Barbara Johns. Their lawsuit became one of the five cases decided as Brown v. Board. Prince Edward County later closed its public schools for five years rather than integrate.

    What counts as a visit

    The museum in the former Moton High School building.

    Access

    Closed Sundays and Mondays; free entry. Checked 2026-09-16.

    A place of reflection

    Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

18. 18

    Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site

    Tuskegee, Alabama, United States

    

    Moton Field is where the first African American military pilots were trained from 1941. The hangars are kept as they were, and the site sets the pilots' record against the segregated army they served in.

    What counts as a visit

    The hangar museums and the airfield grounds.

    Access

    Open most days; closed on major holidays. Checked 2026-09-16.

    A place of reflection

    Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

19. 19

    Lincoln Memorial

    Washington, United States

    

    Marian Anderson sang on these steps in 1939 after being refused a concert hall. In August 1963 a quarter of a million people filled the Mall in front of them for the March on Washington. An inscription on the step marks where King spoke.

    What counts as a visit

    The memorial and the inscribed step on the east front.

    Access

    Open all hours, staffed during the day. Checked 2026-09-16.

    A place of reflection

    Check access · last checked September 16, 2026

Respect and access

Some of these places are sites of violence, and some are sites of worship. Both call for the same quiet. Follow the congregation's guidance on dress and photography, and do not photograph worshippers. Choosing this journey says nothing about who you are. Nobody is being tested and nothing here is being scored.

A place of reflection

This is a memorial or a site of atrocity. Visitors are asked to be quiet, to follow the custodian's guidance on photography, and to treat it as somewhere people grieve.

Opening times, prices, permits and eligibility change. Nothing on this page is a statement about today. Follow the Check access link on a place before you plan around it.

Sources

• mcrm.mdah.ms.govhttps://mcrm.mdah.ms.gov/ · checked September 16, 2026
• museumandmemorial.eji.orghttps://museumandmemorial.eji.org/ · checked September 16, 2026
• civilrightsmuseum.orghttps://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/ · checked September 16, 2026
• dexterkingmemorial.orghttps://www.dexterkingmemorial.org/ · checked September 16, 2026
• emmett-till.orghttps://www.emmett-till.org/ · checked September 16, 2026
• motonmuseum.orghttps://www.motonmuseum.org/ · checked September 16, 2026
• nps.govhttps://www.nps.gov/bicr/index.htm · checked September 16, 2026
• nps.govhttps://www.nps.gov/brvb/index.htm · checked September 16, 2026
• nps.govhttps://www.nps.gov/chsc/index.htm · checked September 16, 2026
• nps.govhttps://www.nps.gov/linc/index.htm · checked September 16, 2026
• nps.govhttps://www.nps.gov/malu/index.htm · checked September 16, 2026
• nps.govhttps://www.nps.gov/memy/index.htm · checked September 16, 2026
• nps.govhttps://www.nps.gov/semo/index.htm · checked September 16, 2026
• nps.govhttps://www.nps.gov/tuai/index.htm · checked September 16, 2026
• sitinmovement.orghttps://www.sitinmovement.org/ · checked September 16, 2026
• troy.eduhttps://www.troy.edu/rosaparks/ · checked September 16, 2026

TravelDay selected and grouped these places. Naming a custodian, a government agency or UNESCO as a source is not a claim that any of them endorsed this journey.