{"id":97184672,"date":"2017-01-27T21:56:13","date_gmt":"2017-01-27T21:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/?p=97184672"},"modified":"2022-01-25T20:18:39","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T20:18:39","slug":"civil-rights-destinations-to-add-to-your-bucket-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/civil-rights-destinations-to-add-to-your-bucket-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Significant Civil Rights Sites & Destinations You Need to Add to Your Bucket List"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

It was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who said \u201cthe arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.\u201d In the fight for racial equality in America, there were many places around the country that served as significant meeting places for the movement, backdrops for stirring speeches and sermons, and battlegrounds for non-violent protest. Many of these historic sites now memorialize and recount the struggle. These are quintessential spots that every American should try to visit at least once in their lifetime.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Listed below are 15 historic sites in Washington D.C. and across the South, representing a few of the many important markers the Civil Rights Movement met along the way to justice.<\/p>\r\n

National Civil Rights Museum (Tennessee)<\/h2>\r\n

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[Above image “tennessee attractions national civil rights museum 14<\/a>” by tnattractions<\/a> on Flickr – licensed under CC BY 2.0<\/a>]<\/em><\/p><\/div>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n

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If you were planning to take cheap flights in February<\/a> to learn more about the Civil Rights Movement, then this stop is unmissable. Set downtown at the Lorraine Hotel, the site of MLK\u2019s 1968 assassination, The National Civil Rights Museum<\/a> documents King\u2019s death. Additionally, it highlights his achievements as well as those of the Civil Rights Movement with poignant and stirring exhibits.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (Alabama)<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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[Above image “Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and Kelly Ingram Park<\/a>” by Maureen<\/a> on Flickr – licensed under CC BY 2.0<\/a>]<\/em><\/p><\/div>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Opened in 1992, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute<\/a> is located in the City\u2019s Civil Rights District. This cultural and educational research center functions as a \u201cliving institution\u201d with an aim to promote understanding and appreciation for the significance of civil rights developments in Birmingham \u201cwith an increasing emphasis on the international struggle for universal human rights.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Civil Rights Memorial (Washington, D.C.)<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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[Above image “FDR Memorial – Washington DC – 00039 -2012-03-15<\/a>” by Tim Evanson<\/a> on Flickr – licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0]<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Created by Maya Lin, best known for her design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., this Civil Rights Memorial <\/a>commemorates the lives of 41 individuals who died in the struggle to end segregation. In an open plaza in Downtown Montgomery, Alabama, the memorial is outside the former offices of the Southern Poverty Law Center, now a space for exhibitions and events related to the Civil Rights Movement. Within a few blocks of the memorial are the Alabama State Capitol, the Rosa Parks Library and Museum, and the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church where Dr. King was pastor during the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 and 1956.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Freedom Rides Museum (Alabama)<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Also in Downtown Montgomery, the Freedom Rides Museum<\/a> is set in the Greyhound bus station. It commemorates the young integrated activists who traveled together on regularly scheduled buses from Washington D.C. to New Orleans in open defiance of segregation laws in 1961.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

International Civil Rights Center & Museum (North Carolina)<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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[Above image “Greensboro (NC) Lunch Counter — The national Museum of African American History and Culture Washington DC (2017)<\/a>” by Ron Cogswell<\/a> on Flickr – licensed under CC BY 2.0<\/a>]<\/em><\/p><\/div>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The International Civil Rights Center & Museum<\/a> is located in Greensboro, North Carolina within the former Woolworth\u2019s. It was also the site of the 1960 anti-segregation sit-ins that are considered a major catalyst of the Civil Rights Movement. It’s also an archival center, collecting museum, and teaching facility devoted to the international struggle for civil and human rights.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Lincoln Memorial (Washington, D.C.)<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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This iconic national monument honors the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, who was president during the Civil War and a pivotal figure in abolishing slavery. The\u00a0awe-inspiring memorial<\/a> has been the site of numerous civil rights demonstrations, including the 1963 March on Washington when MLK gave his famous \u201cI Have a Dream\u201d speech.<\/p>\r\n

Related: How to Spend a Weekend of Black History in Washington D.C.<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site (Arkansas)<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Little Rock Central High School<\/a> has been recognized as a National Historic Site for the role it played in the desegregation of public schools in America. It was here in 1957 that nine African-American students famously fought to attend the formerly white-only school. This upheld the 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, which declared that state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. Guided \u201cstreetscape\u201d tours at and around the school are offered daily (except for December 31 and January 1).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (Georgia)<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The King Center<\/a> in Atlanta, Georgia, is a nonprofit cultural institution focused on keeping the memory and the message of MLK alive. On the grounds of the center are Dr. and Mrs. King\u2019s crypt, the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site (King\u2019s birth home), the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church (where King was co-pastor with his father for a year), and exhibition and event spaces dedicated to King\u2019s life. Additionally, you can learn more about the stories of other prominent nonviolent activists there as well.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial (Washington, D.C.)<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial<\/a> is located in Washington D.C.\u2019s West Potomac Park, southwest of the National Mall. The 30-foot-tall granite statue was created by sculptor Lie Yixin, inspired by the line \u201cout of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope\u201d from King\u2019s famous \u201cI Have a Dream\u201d speech. Located within a four-acre site near the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, it marks a visual \u201cline of leadership\u201d from the Lincoln Memorial where King delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech during the 1963 March on Washington.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

National Museum of African-American History and Culture (Washington, D.C.)<\/h2>\r\n
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[Above image “National Museum of African American History and Culture<\/a>” by John Brighenti<\/a> on Flickr – licensed under CC by 2.0<\/a>]<\/em><\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Part of the Smithsonian Institution, The National Museum of African-American History and Culture <\/a>opened to the public in 2016. Located on the National Mall in Washington D.C., it’s one of the only national museums \u201cdevoted exclusively to the documentation of African-American life, history, and culture.\u201d The museum\u2019s collection also features more than 36,000 artifacts, many of which are related to the Civil Rights Movement.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

National Center for Civil and Human Rights (Georgia)<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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