Civil Rights Historical Sites (Self Guided), Birmingham

Birmingham, Alabama is the very first destination that comes to mind at the mention of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, this city saw a great deal of bloodshed and strife between civil rights leaders, seeking to shed the stigma of centuries-long injustice, and their opponents.

The area of downtown Birmingham, where several significant events in the Civil Rights Movement took place, became a designated district in 1992. Today it comprises several memorials and one of the country’s premier civil rights museums, namely:

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute – a modern museum providing an interactive overview of the history of Birmingham's role in the Civil Rights Movement; among the exhibits here are a Freedom Rider bus and the actual door from the jail where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his "Letter From A Birmingham Jail."

16th Street Baptist Church – the site of the 1963 bombing staged by white supremacists that killed four young black girls.

Kelly Ingram Park – the former site of organized protests and boycotts; today it honors Civil Rights leaders with emotionally powerful statues.

Visiting these and other locations offers a chance to reflect on the violence that occurred in the city in the middle of the past century, as well as to remember and mourn those who lost their lives. If you are interested to learn more about this important era of American history, take this self-guided tour for a sobering and reflective experience.