Visit Alabama’s African American Historic Sites.

February 2022

Alabama played a critical role in shaping civil rights history. Key events that forged the state’s significance in how the movement advanced forward are forever ingrained in our lives, as a people and as a state. Events, such as the Selma to Montgomery March, the Birmingham riots and the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing along with the arrest of Dr. Martin Luther King and the burning of the Freedom Riders’ bus in Anniston served as turning points in a movement that forever changed America. Alabama’s historical perspective in the movement sparked the development of the national Civil Rights Trail featuring historical landmarks and museums that tell the stories of African Americans who have shaped the state and a nation. 

Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site

Tuskegee, Alabama

This museum tells the story of the brave African American men of the 332nd Fighter Group of the U.S. Army Corps known as the “Red Tails.”  These brave men flew in WWII and fought the Nazis overseas while fighting segregation at home. The airmen’s flying adventures began at Moton Field airport from 1940-1942 where they trained under the legendary Charles ‘Chief’ Anderson, an instructor for the military at the flight program at Tuskegee. Learn how these men overcame many obstacles to prove they had the right stuff to serve our country during WWII. The museum is operated by the National Park Service and has photographs of this time in history along with the training airplanes Chief Anderson used to train the airmen. In addition, see the plane that First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt rode in when she took her historic flight with Chief Anderson. 

Edmund Pettus Bridge, Site of Bloody Sunday

Selma Alabama

Relive a piece of history that forever changed a movement. The Edmund Pettus Bridge, now a national historic landmark,  is the site of one of the brutal bloody Sunday beatings during the Civil Rights era. Marchers fighting for voting rights were brutally attacked while trying to cross the bridge on their march to Montgomery. The attacks were televised across the nation which garnered public support for civil rights activists in Montgomery and for voting rights. After receiving permission, the marchers continued to march. 

Athens-Limestone African American Heritage Trail

Athens, Alabama

The impact of African American history in Limestone County is on display in this part of Alabama. Visit the Trinity Fort Henderson Historic Site which tells the story of the fort built by runaway slaves who joined the Union Army.  The Pincham-Lincoln Center pays tribute to the Trinity School which was the only school for black students in Limestone County until the 1970s.  Browns Ferry Street was known to many as the Strivers Row of Limestone County and resembled the famous Harlem neighborhood of New York City. Several successful African American businesses were located in this area. The Bridgeforth Home was the residence of George Ruffin Bridgeforth who served as the Director of Agriculture for Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee University. The area also has other historical landmarks that were part of the history in the North Alabama area. 

Dora Franklin Finley African American Heritage Trail

Mobile, Alabama

This trail outlines the legacy of African Americans in the Mobile area. The trail has historical landmarks and buildings that tell the history of African Americans from the early Creoles de Color to the African survivors of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to enter the U.S., to the stories of African Americans who built some of Alabama’s oldest churches to stories of the African Americans who settled Davis Avenue, later named Dr. Martin Luther King Avenue. 

 

Learn more about Alabama’s role in the Civil Rights Movement by downloading the Alabama Civil Rights Trail app or by listening to the Alabama Civil Rights Trail podcast wherever you get your podcasts.



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