12-Day Southern Civil Rights Journey

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Departing from Nashville, drive an hour to Henning to visit the Alex Haley Museum, the childhood home of the Roots author, which highlights African-American history and includes a replica of a slave ship. Continue another hour to Memphis and explore the Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum, once a stop on the Underground Railroad. Exhibits showcase the history of slavery, including artifacts and a hidden cellar where escapees once hid on their journey to freedom.

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To explore Memphis’ civil rights history, begin at the National Civil Rights Museum, built around the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Exhibits trace key events, from Rosa Parks to the Selma marches. Then head to Beale Street, once the center of Black culture and now a lively music district. Visit the Stax Museum, which honors soul music and artists like Otis Redding, and stop by Beale Street Baptist Church, a historic hub for civil rights leaders. End with classic soul food at The Four Way, a longtime gathering place for activists and musicians.

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Depart from Memphis and make your way to Little Rock. Upon arrival, consider a visit to the Central High School Historic Site, where nine Black students made history in 1957 by integrating an all-white school under federal protection. Across from the State Capitol, see the Little Rock Nine Memorial, honoring their courage. Other key sites include Daisy Bates’ House, a meeting place for civil rights activists, and the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, which celebrates African-American heritage and offers self-guided tours.

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Drive to Money, Mississippi to see the remains of Bryant’s Grocery, where 14-year-old Emmett Till was falsely accused in 1955, leading to his brutal murder—an event that galvanized the civil rights movement. Then visit the Tallahatchie Courthouse in Sumner, site of the trial where his killers were acquitted. Continue driving south to Jackson where you will overnight.

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Explore Jackson’s rich civil rights history with visits to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the Medgar Evers Home Museum, honoring the slain NAACP leader. Stop by Tougaloo College, a key center for activism, and the restored Greyhound bus station, linked to the 1961 Freedom Rides.

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Selma was the starting point of the 1965 voting rights marches, including the violent “Bloody Sunday.” National outrage led President Johnson to support the movement and pass the Voting Rights Act. Thousands marched from Selma to Montgomery, a route now a National Historic Trail.

Montgomery, where Rosa Parks sparked the 1955 Bus Boycott, remained central to the civil rights movement. It is home to the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. preached. Overnight in Montgomery.

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From Montgomery, drive 40 minutes to Tuskegee to learn about the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American military pilots. Visit Butler Chapel AME Zion Church, a key 1950s meeting place for voting rights activists, and tour its museum. The Tuskegee History Center highlights the area’s civil rights and multicultural history. Then, continue with a two-hour drive to Atlanta, birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr., and explore the Center for Civil and Human Rights, which features his legacy and global human rights exhibits.

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Begin your journey into Atlanta’s civil rights legacy at The King Center, where you’ll explore sites connected to Martin Luther King Jr.—from his birth home to his final resting place. Visit the church where he preached, take time for quiet reflection at peace memorials, and dive deeper into African-American heritage at museums in the historic Sweet Auburn District.

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Depart Atlanta and follow the route of the 1961 Freedom Riders. In Anniston, visit the Freedom Riders National Monument, marking the site where a bus was attacked and burned. Continue to Birmingham to explore key civil rights landmarks like the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Kelly Ingram Park, and the Civil Rights National Monument - sites that commemorate pivotal protests and struggles

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Drive two hours north to Scottsboro, where the 1931 false accusation of nine Black teens led to landmark legal reforms. Visit the Scottsboro Boys Museum in a historic church, which preserves artifacts from the case seen as an early spark of the civil rights movement. Then, drive three hours back to Nashville to conclude the journey.