A spring break road trip to the beaches of southern Alabama brought an opportunity to take a short detour and make stops at a few sites along the Alabama Civil Rights Trail. Stops to see the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the Lowndes Interpretive Center, and the Legacy Museum were a trip highlight and very impactful. I highly recommend making these sites along the Alabama Civil Rights Trail a priority for any Alabama adventure.
Edmund Pettus Bridge-Selma, Alabama
We began our Civil Rights Trail experience in Selma, Alabama with a short stop at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The bridge is best known as the site of Bloody Sunday, where televised images of the brutality against voting rights marchers led to an outpouring of support for civil rights activitists. Marches that originated in Selma are credited with leading to the eventual passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. To see the bridge, park on Broad Street near Alabama Avenue and walk to Water Avenue. From here, there are great view of the bridge. Unfortunately, the nearby Selma Interpretive Center is closed for renovations until fall 2025.
Lowndes Interpretive Center-Hayneville, Alabama
After visiting the Edmund Pettus Bridge, drive 20 miles east along Interstate 80 towards Montgomery to the Lowndes Interpretive Center. This well kept and free site tells the story of marchers who walked from Selma to the Alabama State Capital in Montgomery to help secure the right to vote. The small and interactive displays were popular with my boys. Specifially, the exhibits that demonstrate the ways in which minorities were excluded from voting. The boys were so mad they could not pass the test to vote (because the test is not meant to be passed!)
Legacy Museum-Montgomery, Alabama
From the interpretive center, continue east to Montgomery to the Legacy Museum. The Legacy Museum is a collection of three sites; the Museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park. We had just half a day to spend at the sites. If I were to do it again, I’d dedicate one full day to these amazing and powerful museums.
Legacy Museum
A visit to the Legacy Museum is a moving and profound experience. It’s a gut wrenching look at the experience of African Americans from enslavement to mass incarceration over the past 400 years. The visit truly changes you. No pictures are allowed inside the museum, but the first person narratives and interactive media displays are etched in my memory and on my heart. Never have I experienced America’s history of racial injustice in such a impactful way. Every American should see the Legacy Museum.
National Memorial for Peace and Justice
After the Legacy Museum we took the shuttle bus to the second Legacy site; the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. This mostly outdoor site is a memorial to the victims of racial terrorism and lynchings between 1877 and 1950. Each of the 800 steel panels suspended from the ceiling bares the names of the 4,400 black people killed by lynching during the above time period. In addition to the names of the victims, several slabs included a short sentence describing why the individul as lynched. The most shocking description of a lynching was a black man who was tortured and killed for asking for his shovel to be returned after it was stolen by a white co-worker.
Freedom Monument Sculpture Park
The final site on the tour of Legacy Museums was to the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park. We chose to take the boat ride on the Alabama River to the site. The boat ride follows the route slaves were trafficked along upon arriving in eastern states like Virginia. One of the most unique features of the sculpture park is that visitors can walk in and amongst the art. Overall, our kids thought the cotton picking sculpture and the slave dwellings were the most interesting sculptures in the park.
Bonus Stop
Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center-Glendora, Mississippi
Though not in Alabama, another interesting civil rights site in nearby Mississippi is the Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center in Glendora. Visitors view a short film before walking through displays on the events that led to the August 1955 murder of Emmett Till. The artifacts and photographs as well as the narratives provided in the video and the plaquards provided great information. If you are in the area, make a point to see the Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center. Also worth a stop are sites in Sumner which include the Emmett Till Interpretive Center and Tallahatchie County Courthouse.
For more exciting civil rights related posts, see our post on Memphis which includes details on visiting the National Civil Rights Museum and I AM A MAN plaza.
Happy Adventuring, Rochelle