In honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, 14 Southern states have unveiled the nation’s first civil rights trail that charts important destinations during the civil rights movement in the 50s and 60s. Thanks to a two-year effort, executed by Travel South USA (representatives from Southern states tourism departments), there are now 130 locations featured along the trail including the Edmund Pettis Bridge, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthplace in Atlanta.
Until now, these sites were largely seen as standalones, but the unveiling of the trail links them together as a unit.
“No one had even done an inventory of civil rights landmarks. They saw themselves as one-offs and didn’t realize they were part of a network,” said Alabama State Tourism Director Lee Sentell.
The map can be viewed on the United States Civil Rights Trail website.
