Issue Date: February 8, 2009
TravelSmart |
EVERETT POTTER |
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Visit civil rights sights
Ebenezer Baptist Church is now a national historic site.
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The election of President Barack Obama has given renewed meaning to the civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s. During Black History Month, you can walk in history's footsteps at a variety of sites across the nation, many of which are listed on the national register of historic civil rights places (nps.gov/history/nr/travel/civilrights/). Some top sites:
Georgia: At the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta, you can tour King's birthplace, visit the Ebenezer Baptist Church where King and his father preached, and see King's burial site. Other places to visit include the Civil Rights Museum at Old Mount Zion Church in Albany, Ga., which is home to the Albany Civil Rights Institute.
Alabama: There's also the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala., the heart of the Montgomery bus boycott from 1955-56. The boycott, which was spearheaded by the church's new minister, King, eventually transformed Rosa Parks into a civil rights pioneer. If you visit the historic 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., the nearby Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is a gem that offers a wide range of multimedia exhibits that bring the entire history of the civil rights movement into sharp focus.
Get more of Contributing Editor Everett Potter's travel tips on his website, everettpotter.com.
Want to know more about civil rights movement leaders? Click here.
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