The Civil Rights Movement: Atlanta, Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham

Activity note: Hotel check-in from 4:00 p.m.

Afternoon: Program Registration: At 5:00 p.m. after you have your room assignment, come over to the Road Scholar table in the conference room to register with the program staff and get your welcome packet containing your name-tag, up-to-date schedule that reflects any last-minute changes, and to learn when and where the Orientation session will take place. If your arrival is delayed, please ask for your packet when you check in. Orientation: The Group Leader will greet everyone with a warm welcome and lead introductions. We will review the up-to-date program schedule and any changes, discuss roles and responsibilities, logistics, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and answer any questions you may have. All lectures and field trips will be led by local experts unless specified otherwise. All transfers and transportation will be via motorcoach. Free time is reserved for your personal independent exploration. Please note that program activities, schedules, and personnel may need to change due to local circumstances. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

Dinner: In the hotel conference room, we’ll have a welcome buffet, plus coffee, tea, water.

Evening: Continue getting to know your fellow Road Scholars, settle in, and get a good night’s rest for the day ahead.

Activity note: Walking up to 1/2 mile throughout the day with stairs in some historical locations. No elevator in some historical homes.

Breakfast: In the hotel conference room, we will have a breakfast buffet featuring a variety of items, plus coffee, tea, water.

Morning: In the conference room, start the morning off with an expert who will set the tone for your civil rights and freedom exploration in Georgia and Alabama. Continuing our studies we will travel by motor coach to the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site with a local expert. Managed by the National Park Service, we’ll visit the Martin Luther King Memorial, Dr. & Mrs. King’s Crypt and the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church while our expert points out historical facts. The Ebenezer Baptist Church is where King was baptized and both he and his father were pastors. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s funeral was held in this church.

Lunch: Located in the heart of the Historic Castleberry Hill Neighborhood we will have lunch at Paschal’s. In the 1960’s, the Paschal brothers became actively involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Paschal’s was a meeting place for key civil rights leaders and strategists including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his lieutenants. Lunch will be plated and will offer some Southern favorites.

Afternoon: After lunch we board the motor coach for the National Center for Civil and Human Rights Museum, dedicated to the achievements of both the civil rights movement in the United States and the worldwide human rights movement. We will end up after a full day of learning at the Carter Center and Museum. President Jimmy Carter championed racial equality stating "there's no difference with people in the eyes of God".

Dinner: Dinner will be at a local restaurant across the street from your hotel. This is a plated meal with several choices and includes coffee, tea or water. Additional beverages available for purchase.

Evening: At leisure.

Activity note: Walking up to 1/2 mile on sidewalks at Morehouse College. Standing for up to 45 minutes while viewing MLK memorabilia. Sidewalks and uneven terrain may be encountered.

Breakfast: Hotel buffet.

Morning: Travel via motorcoach to Morehouse College in Atlanta. A historically black college, this private, all-male, liberal arts school is the alma mater of many prominent African-American leaders, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Jeh Johnson, and Spike Lee. We will set out for a campus walk led by a Morehouse Ambassador, visiting the MLK International Chapel (Hall of Fame portraits), and the Leadership Center, where we will have a special presentation. Morehouse is one of two historically black colleges in the country to produce Rhodes Scholars, and presented honorary degrees to presidents Barak Obama and Jimmy Carter.

Lunch: We’ll dine in the student dining hall at Morehouse College, enjoying a buffet with coffee, tea, water.

Afternoon: After leaving Morehouse College, we’ll continue our studies with a visit to the Apex Museum. From an African-American perspective, the museums exhibits interpret and present history. Guests to the museum will be introduced to the contributions of African-Americans to America as well as the world. We will have a special presentation by a museum storyteller.

Dinner: This meal has been excluded from the program cost and is on your own to enjoy what you like. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions.

Evening: At leisure.

Activity note: Drive is approximately 160 miles, taking about 2.5 hours. Rest stop along the way.

Breakfast: Hotel buffet.

Morning: Check out of the hotel and begin our transfer to Montgomery, Alabama. Upon our arrival in Montgomery, we will stop at the Visitor's Center to pick up maps. Afterwards, we’ll continue on the motor coach to the Rosa Parks Museum, a state-of-the-art museum depicting events that started the bus boycott and early Civil Rights movement. It provides an interactive, multi-media presentation. We’ll explore part of the museum with an expert before spending some time on our own to see the exhibits.

Lunch: A buffet lunch will be within the area of the capitol.

Afternoon: After lunch, we will walk over to the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. See the modest pulpit where Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. first preached, at this National Historic Landmark,. This church was also a center point of the Montgomery bus boycott. A dynamic expert from the church will lead us through the history and events that took place that changed the civil rights movement. Driven by motor coach, we will continue the story of Dr. King at the Dexter Parsonage Museum. The Museum, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Visitors to the Dexter Parsonage Museum will experience the actual residence where Dr. King and his young family lived between 1954 and 1960. The nine-room clapboard Parsonage, built in 1912, has been restored to its appearance when Dr. King and his family lived there. Much of the furniture presently in the living room, dining room, bedroom and study was actually used by Dr. King. This is an expert led field trip that will touch your heart by the person leading it.

Dinner: On your own to enjoy what you like or sample the local fare. Dine individually or join your fellow Road Scholars in one of Montgomery’s many restaurants.

Evening: At leisure. You are in the heart of downtown Montgomery near the Alabama River, approximately 2 blocks away.

Activity note: Incline sidewalk leads to the Civil Rights Memorial. Walking and standing in museums.

Breakfast: At the hotel.

Morning: This morning we will travel by motor coach to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Set on a six-acre site, the memorial uses sculpture, art, and design to contextualize racial terror. As described by the Equal Justice Initiative, "The site includes a memorial square with 800 six-foot monuments to symbolize thousands of racial terror lynching victims in the United States and the counties and states where this terrorism took place." The new Memorial opened in April, 2018. Next we'll travel by motor coach to the Civil Rights Memorial. A circular black granite table lists the names of the martyrs and the history of the movement radiates in lines that move like the hands of a clock. Water emerges from the table's center. On a curved black granite wall behind the table is engraved Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s well-known paraphrase of Amos 5:24 - "We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." We will be welcomed in the Civil Rights Museum by a speaker from the Southern Poverty Law Center specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Next we will visit the Little White House of the Confederacy. Built in the 1830s by an ancestor of F. Scott Fitzgerald, the house was later remodeled and became the executive residence of President Jefferson Davis after the South seceded from the Union. The First White House of the Confederacy is furnished with the original period from the 1850s and 1860s; capturing our attention, our expert will lead us through the 1835 Italianate-style house.

Lunch: On your own to enjoy what you like in the heart of downtown Montgomery. Walk to many restaurants that surround your hotel and then meet your group leader at a designated spot or gather on your own at the Freedom Riders Museum near your hotel.

Afternoon: After lunch meet up at the Freedom Riders Museum where 21 young people transformed our nation's history using nonviolent protest methods. The Museum states that "Freedom Riders, black and white, male and female, none of them older than 22, stepped off a bus at the Montgomery Greyhound Station on May 20, 1961. They were prepared to meet mob violence with non-violence and courage. They prepared farewell letters and wills. Their goal was to help end racial segregation in public transportation. And they did." This afternoon our field trip will also take us to the Equal Justice Initiative where EJI believes more must be done to advance equal justice for all in the United States. EJI believes very little has been done to acknowledge the legacy of genocide, slavery, lynching, and racial segregation. We will hear from one of the staff or a special speaker they have secured when available.

Dinner: Dinner will be at a restaurant located right beside our hotel. A select menu with coffee, tea and water is available. Additional beverages for purchase.

Evening: Step back in time with a visit from a surprise guest. This moving reenactment connects all the feelings of the Civil Rights Movement and what this special person endured on the bus on that December 1, 1955, day when she refused to give up her seat to a white man.

Activity note: Drive approximately 50 miles, taking about 1 hour. Approximately 90 miles from Selma to Birmingham, taking about 2 hours.

Breakfast: At the hotel, we’ll have a breakfast buffet plus coffee, tea, water.

Morning: Check out of the hotel and depart for our transfer to Selma. Selma is best known for the 1960s Selma Voting Rights Movement and the Selma to Montgomery marches, beginning with "Bloody Sunday" in March 1965 and ending with 25,000 people entering Montgomery at the end of the last march to press for voting rights. On the way to Selma our group will stop by the Lowndes Interpretive Center for a self led field trip. Upon arriving in Selma, we will be joined by a local expert. She will provide commentary as we visit several museums and historical sites including the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Brown Chapel AME Church, and the Interpretive Center.

Lunch: Lunch will be at the Italianate-style cottage that is located beside the historic Sturdivant Hall in Selma, AL. It was built in 1859. Enjoy southern cuisine with a plated meal that includes coffee, tea, water.

Afternoon: Visit Sturdivant Hall, one of the South’s best and most beautiful examples of Greek revival antebellum homes. We’ll explore the house, detached kitchen, formal garden, kitchen, smokehouse and two-story servants' quarters. Following our visit, we will depart for Birmingham. Arrive and check into the hotel in the late afternoon.

Dinner: A plated dinner will be at a popular restaurant one block from the hotel. We will walk to the restaurant from our hotel.

Evening: At leisure.

Activity note: Walking up to 1 mile throughout the day, standing during presentations for up to 30 minutes.

Breakfast: Breakfast at the hotel.

Morning: With a local expert, we will visit a variety of sites aboard the motorcoach, learning about the Civil Rights Movement and its events in Birmingham. Take a field trip to the historic Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, bombed by Klansmen in 1963, killing four little girls. Stroll through the Kelly Ingram Park where sculptures depict the reality of the police dogs and fire hoses that were turned on demonstrators who gathered here to protest segregation laws. Visit the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute that tells the story of a people and a movement.

Lunch: At a local restaurant, we’ll have a buffet plus coffee, tea, water. Savor the flavor at this small, down-to-earth establishment that dishes up soul food plates with classic sides.

Afternoon: Our day continues with a field trip to Sloss Furnaces. Our group will have a special presentation for about the industrial evolution of Birmingham’s iron plantation. The history of Birmingham revolves around the iron industry. Sloss Furnaces produced iron for nearly 90 years, which gave rise to the city of Birmingham, AL. Now recognized as a National Historic Landmark, Sloss Furnaces with its web of pipes and tall smokestacks offers us a glimpse into the great industrial past of the South and our nation.

Dinner: Enjoy a plated dinner at the hotel as we continue our conversations about the emotional week we have just experienced and as we sort out and discuss the activities that we have participated in that tell the story of the Civil Rights Movement.

Evening: At leisure. Prepare for departure in the morning and arrange your transportation to the airport for the morning.

Activity note: Hotel check-out by 11:00 a.m.

Breakfast: Hotel buffet.

Morning: Our program concludes following breakfast. Our motor coach will depart by 8:30 am for Atlanta International Airport. It is approximately a 2 hour and 15 minutes, drive depending on traffic. After dropping participants at the Atlanta airport, the motor coach will then travel to the Hyatt Place, the originating hotel, to drop anyone who may have left a car at the hotel. There is no fee for leaving your car at the hotel parking deck. This concludes our program. If you are transferring to another Road Scholar program, detailed instructions are included in your Information Packet for that program. We hope you enjoy Road Scholar learning adventures and look forward to having you on rewarding programs in the future. Don’t forget to join our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram. Best wishes for all your journeys!