As part of the MLK holiday, 14 states from Kansas to Delaware and states in the Deep South are coming together to promote the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, which will give tourists a chance to visit 130 sites linked to the modern civil rights movement.
According to The Associated Press, this is not the first time southern states tried to lure tourists to the region. In fact, in the 1980s Alabama was one of the first states to launch such an initiative.
Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia are some of the major states listed.
The District of Columbia is also listed because of attractions including the Lincoln Memorial, the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the U.S. Supreme Court building.
Out of all of the states listed Alabama has the most sites with 29 listed on the trail, which is understandable because the civil rights movement operated heavily in that state.
Many of the historic sites will include major civil rights landmarks like churches, courthouses, schools, businesses and other sites that played a role in the civil rights movement in the 1950s and ’60s. For example, Selma, Atlanta, and schools in Topeka, Kansas, where Brown vs. Board of Education put an end to school segregation, will also be part of the trail.
“Everyone wants to showcase their landmarks. For the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, we’re saying ’What happened here changed the world,’” said Lee Sentell, Alabama’s tourism director.
“If someone is going to Montgomery and Selma, and we want them to go to Jackson, Mississippi, to learn about the story there and go to the Mississippi Delta and then to Memphis,” he added.
Initially, researchers at Georgia State University located 60 sites and then states added 70 more. The new trail will cater to the European visitors, but anyone who wants to learn about the civil rights movement can take part. For more information on the trail, visit civilrightstrail.com.
