Knowing Where You're Going: Alabama

“Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.”

How much better off are you going to be after this Tour?

To get the most out of a Tour like this it really pays to learn some things about the places you are going before you get there. You will gain so much more if you do a bit of investigating before going there.

History students are at a bit of an advantage here, as you will have to know a lot of this stuff to succeed in your History courses. But all of us will benefit from learning more about the places we'll be visiting.

We are going to be talking about some of those places in the Tour meetings coming up this term, but here's some things to get you started, focusing on the Southern State of Alabama.

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA (April 16, 17)

Montgomery was the site of the first major protest of the Civil Rights era in 1955, the Montgomery Bus Boycott. It made Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King household names and encouraged the growth of a non-violent mass movement against segregation in the Southern States and prejudice throughout the USA.

Read: History.com covers the boycott really well, with a range of resources.
Watch: Award-winning documentary series 'Eyes on the Prize' still has the best summary.

What We'll See and Do
We'll visit the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where the boycott was based, the Rosa Parks museum and a couple of organisations that aim to carry on Civil Rights work today, including The Southern Poverty Law Centre.

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA (April 20)

In 1963, Birmingham was known as 'the most segregated city in America'. Martin Luther King led a month-long campaign of marches, boycotts and sit-ins. He was arrested for breaking segregation laws and wrote his famous 'Letter From a Birmingham Jail' whilst in prison. The campaign gained worldwide attention when Police Commissioner 'Bull' Connor set fire hoses and dogs on demonstrators, many of whom were school children. The violence drew the attention of President John F Kennedy and eventually led to the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, which officially ended segregation.

Read: PBS website has a great summary, with lots of primary sources.
Watch: A 10 minute summary of the Campaign focusing on the children's role in the protest.

What We'll See and Do

We will be visiting the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute to learn about the campaign, as well as key locations around Birmingham where protests took place.

SELMA, ALABAMA (April 18-19)

The end of segregation didn't mean the end of the Civil Rights Movement. The Selma Campaign of 1965 pushed for improved Voting Rights for African Americans. As with Birmingham, Selma had a racist Police Chief known for his violent tendencies. Jim Clark's men attacked and beat peaceful marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in an incident that came to be known as 'Bloody Sunday'. Again, TV pictures circulated around the globe, prompting President Lyndon Johnson to pass the Voting Rights Act later that year.

Read: History.com's summary of the campaign (includes newsreel footage)
Watch: 'Selma' the 2015 movie is brilliant for understanding what made this town world famous.

What We'll See and Do
In Selma, we'll be connecting with local Civil Rights campaigners and visiting the major sites of the Selma Campaign, including the famous Edmund Pettus Bridge (here's President Obama speaking at a march there on the 50th anniversary of the campaign in 2015).