Civil Rights Movement in Alabama

Inspired by Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Alabama was the main stage for the civil rights movement’s actions. During the 1950s and 60s, civil rights activists fought for racial justice across the South. Today, many of those battlegrounds have evolved into state-of-the-art museums that explain the stories within the movement.

Civil Rights in Selma, Alabama

Alabama Cities such as Selma and Birmingham all staged headline-grabbing freedom marches and rallies. Midway along the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail on U.S. Highway 80 in Hayneville lies the Lowndes County Interpretive Center. This National Park Service facility commemorates the location where marchers camped after being forced from their homes for attempting to register to vote. In Selma, you can also walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge where marchers were attacked in 1965 and then step inside the National Voting Rights Museum to learn about the movement's "foot soldiers."

Civil Rights in Montgomery, Alabama

The Civil Rights Memorial Center in Alabama’s Capital City, Montgomery, contains exhibits depicting momentous events that occurred there. It explains how 40 activists died in the South between 1955 and 1968 when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. A Wall of Tolerance allows visitors to sign a pledge to promote racial justice. Montgomery is also home to the Rosa Parks Museum, the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church where King preached and the Dexter Parsonage Museum. All are within a few blocks of the visitors center.

Civil Rights in Birmingham, Alabama

Alabama’s largest city, Birmingham, also played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights movement.  Birmingham's Civil Rights District includes Kelly Ingram Park where marches were formed, and the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church where four young girls were killed by a racist's bomb. Across the street is the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the nation's finest civil rights museum. It has 58,000 square feet of archives, galleries, community meeting rooms and exhibit spaces.

Civil Rights in Tuskegee, Alabama

Tuskegee Human & Civil Rights Multicultural Center tells previously untold civil rights stories about the  first African American U.S. military pilots known as the ‘Tuskegee Airmen’ who flew with distinction during World War II.

For Additional Information:

Civil Rights Memorial Center
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau
Montgomery Convention and Visitors Bureau
National Voting Rights Museum & Institute
Rosa Parks Library and Museum
Selma-Dallas County Chamber of Commerce
Alabama Atrractions