Introduction: More Than a Road Trip—It’s a Pilgrimage

Alabama is not your average vacation.

Driving through Montgomery, Selma, and Birmingham isn’t just about sightseeing—it’s about bearing witness. It’s about walking the same paths trodden by everyday Americans who risked everything for justice. It’s about feeling the gravity of history in your chest, not just reading about it in textbooks.

And it will change you.

This civil rights itinerary traces the heart of the 1960s movement, connecting museums, memorials, and sacred spaces that honor the legacies of the past while demanding justice in the present. Whether you’re a student, traveler, parent, or educator—this road trip is for anyone ready to learn, reckon, and grow.

Stop 1: Montgomery, Alabama — The Birthplace of the Movement

The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration

📍 400 N. Court Street, Montgomery, AL

🕒 Plan at least 2–3 hours

Walking into The Legacy Museum is like stepping into a living timeline. Operated by the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), it sits on a site where enslaved people were once warehoused⁵. This proximity to historical truth is intentional—and it hits hard.

The immersive exhibits use first-person narratives, holograms, and powerful visual design to guide you through the evolution of racial injustice:

• The horrors of transatlantic slavery
• Jim Crow segregation
• The civil rights movement
• The era of mass incarceration

One of the most haunting moments? Standing before jars of soil collected from lynching sites, each labeled with a name, date, and location. These jars aren’t just dirt—they’re evidence. They speak.

Don’t rush. Take your time, breathe deeply, and let the discomfort teach you something.

🎧 Pro tip: Download the EJI companion app for interpretive content and extended stories.

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice

📍 417 Caroline Street, Montgomery, AL

🕒 Allow 1–2 hours

Just a short distance from the museum sits the nation’s first memorial dedicated to victims of racial terror lynching. Over 800 steel monuments hang in solemn rows—one for each county where these atrocities occurred. Some are upright, while duplicates lie on the ground, waiting for counties to claim and display them.

As you walk among the suspended slabs, the symbolism is overwhelming. It is a sobering landscape of grief, resistance, and acknowledgment.

Additional Sites in Montgomery

• Rosa Parks Museum: Stand at the spot where Rosa Parks made her brave choice.
• Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church: Attend a service or take a guided tour through Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s first pastorate.

Stop 2: Selma, Alabama — Where Courage Met the Bridge

Edmund Pettus Bridge

📍 Broad Street, Selma, AL

🕒 Allow 1 hour (plus emotional space)

You’ve seen it in documentaries. You’ve heard the name. But nothing prepares you for actually walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

On March 7, 1965, a day forever known as Bloody Sunday, peaceful marchers were brutally attacked by state troopers as they attempted to cross this very bridge en route to Montgomery². They marched for the right to vote. They marched with hope—and were met with violence.

Today, the bridge still bears the name of a Confederate general and KKK leader. That contrast underscores the painful duality of Southern memory and history.

Meeting the Youngest Survivors of Bloody Sunday

Sometimes history talks back. If you’re lucky (and intentional), you may encounter one of the surviving child marchers. Many still live in Selma and share their stories at local churches and community centers.

Hearing firsthand what it was like to be 11, 12, or 13 years old and beaten for walking peacefully is gut-wrenching. But it’s also sacred. These living legends are bridges themselves—between then and now.

📌 Visitor Tip: Ask at the Selma Interpretive Center if any community talks or meetups are scheduled.

Selma Interpretive Center

📍 2 Broad St, Selma, AL

🕒 Open Tues–Sat, Free admission

This small but impactful museum sits right at the foot of the bridge and provides essential context for what unfolded during the Selma-to-Montgomery marches. Exhibits include photos, oral histories, and documents from the Voting Rights Movement.

Brown Chapel AME Church (view from outside)

📍 410 Martin Luther King St, Selma, AL

Currently under renovation, this church was the organizing hub of the Selma marches. Even if you can’t go inside, stand on the steps and feel the presence of history.

Stop 3: Birmingham, Alabama — A City that Shook the Nation

16th Street Baptist Church

📍 1530 6th Avenue North, Birmingham, AL

🕒 Tours available; call ahead to book

On September 15, 1963, a bomb planted by white supremacists killed four little girls: Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Denise McNair³. They were in the church basement getting ready for Sunday service.

This heinous act of domestic terrorism shocked the world and helped galvanize support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964¹.

Touring the church today is a gut-wrenching experience. You’ll see the memorial stained-glass window donated by the people of Wales, hear stories from guides who often have personal connections to the tragedy, and get a more profound comprehension of the spiritual heart of the movement.

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI)

📍 520 16th Street North, Birmingham, AL

🕒 2–3 hours recommended

Directly across from the church, BCRI offers a world-class museum experience. It covers the history of civil rights in the U.S. with a special focus on Birmingham’s own struggle.

From replicas of segregated streetcars to Dr. King’s jail cell letters, the museum uses immersive storytelling, multimedia, and authentic artifacts to spotlight everyday resistance, youth activism, and the global impact of Birmingham’s movement.

Kelly Ingram Park

📍 Bordered by 16th St, 5th Ave N, and 17th St

This park was the staging ground for many protests. Today, it’s dotted with arresting sculptures that portray the violent reactions to nonviolent protests: snarling dogs, water hoses, and children marching for justice.

Walk through slowly. Sit on a bench. Let the art speak.

Road Trip Logistics: Planning Your Civil Rights Journey

• Best Time to Go: Spring or fall for mild weather and outdoor touring
• Drive Time:

• • Montgomery to Selma: ~50 mins

• • Selma to Birmingham: ~1 hr 30 mins

• Lodging Suggestions:

• • Montgomery: The Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa

• • Selma: St. James Hotel (historic riverfront property)

• • Birmingham: Elyton Hotel (a modern Marriott Autograph Collection property in a historic building)

🚗 Pro tip: Many sites have limited parking and walking is required—wear comfortable shoes.

What You’ll Feel Along the Way

• It’s heavy.
• There’s grief, anger, and awe. But also joy, strength, and clarity.
• You’ll meet people—volunteers, pastors, historians, locals—who carry this history not as a burden but as a birthright.
• You’ll leave with more questions than answers. And that’s the point.

Why It Still Matters: From Past to Present

• You may ask, “Why now?”
• Because voting rights are still under attack.
• Because Black children still face disproportionate punishment in schools.
• Because mass incarceration continues the cycle of racial injustice.
• Because healing requires acknowledgment.
• This road trip doesn’t just teach you about the past—it demands you confront the present.

Call to Action: Don’t Just Visit—Take Action

Visiting these cities is a start. But it can’t end there.

Here’s what you can do:

• Donate to the Equal Justice Initiative (https://eji.org), Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (https://www.bcri.org), or Selma nonprofit youth programs.
• Educate others. Bring your children, students, friends.
• Vote. Protect the rights they bled for.
• Speak out. Challenge racial injustice in your own community.
• Book group travel and help support Black-owned businesses in these historic towns.

🙏🏾Let your footsteps echo those who came before you. And let your voice be part of the future they dreamed of.

Final Thoughts: A Road That Leads Home

A Civil Rights road trip through Montgomery, Selma, and Birmingham is not a vacation—it’s a reckoning. You don’t just drive through history. It drives through you.

As you head home, the stories will stay with you. The sights will linger. The names will haunt you. But that’s how change begins—with memory, with movement, with meaning.

References:

1. Dobbins Baxter, T. (2022). Traumatic Justice. https://core.ac.uk/download/543557534.pdf
2. John Lewis: Get in the Way. https://videolibrarian.com/reviews/documentary/john-lewis-get-in-the-way/
3. Love, B. (2017). Difficult Knowledge: When a Black Feminist Educator Was Too Afraid to #SayHerName. English Education, 49(2), 197-208.
4. New Civil Rights Sites for 2019 – The Group Travel Leader | Group Tour and Travel Destinations, Attractions & More. https://grouptravelleader.com/articles/new-civil-rights-sites-for-2019/