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Top 11 Civil Rights Museums
| October 5, 2011 | Posted by Darcy Pattison under Civil Rights |
Read the winner of “The Help” children’s story contest.
KIDS, TEACHERS, AND PARENTS:
FIND OUT MORE AT THESE 11 CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUMS AND SITES
THE NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM, Memphis, Tennessee: at the former Lorraine Motel, this museum’s location is the same site as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination in 1968.
450 Mulberry, Memphis, TN 38103; phone 901.521.9699; www.civilrightsmuseum.org/- THE INTERNATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS CENTER & MUSEUM, Greensboro, North Carolina: this museum highlights the international story of courage for human and civil rights and social change, featuring the actual F.W. Woolworth lunch counter from this city’s non-violent 1960 sit-in by four black students, which set off more peaceful protests around the country.
134th Elm Street, Greensboro, NC, 27401; phone 336.274.9199; http://www.sitinmovement.org/ - THE CHARLES H. WRIGHT MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY, Detroit, Michigan: the world’s largest facility dedicated to exploring and celebrating the history and culture of African Americans. When the museum needed more space in 1978, Detroit Public School students started a “Buy A Brick” campaign and earned $80,000 toward the new building.
315 E. Warren Avenue, Detroit, MI 48201; phone 313.494.5800; http://thewright.org/ - THE HENRY FORD MUSEUM, Dearborn, Michigan: see the actual bus Rosa Parks rode the day she did not move to the back and give up her seat.
20900 Oakwood Boulevard, Dearborn, MI 48124; phone 800.835.5237; http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/rosaparks/ - THE ROSA PARKS LIBRARY & MUSEUM, Montgomery, Alabama (at Troy University): in the Children’s Wing “Cleveland Avenue Time Machine,” kids can go back in time on what appears to be a 1955 city bus, experiencing discrimination as in the early 1800s and leading up to the social and legal issues of the 20th century. The museum not only honors Rosa Parks, but is dedicated to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, an important event during the civil rights movement.
252 Montgomery Street, Montgomery, AL 36104; Tours, phone 334.241.8661 (Children’s Wing, 220 Montgomery Street; phone 334.241.8701); http://montgomery.troy.edu/rosaparks/museum/ - THE APEX MUSEUM: their slogan is “Where Every Month is Black History Month!” This museum’s goal is to better educate U.S. and international visitors about the African American perspective.
135 Auburn Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30303; phone 404.523.2739; http://apexmuseum.org/ - THE NEGRO LEAGUES BASEBALL MUSEUM, Kansas City, Missouri: this museum in this city’s 18th & Vine Jazz District isn’t about honoring the past’s black super-athletes, but about recognizing every player and other important person which made the Negro Leagues possible, telling its complete story.
1616 East 18th Street, Kansas City, MO 64108; phone 816.221.1920; http://www.nlbm.com/ and www.visitkc.com - SIXTEENTH STREET BAPTIST CHURCH, Birmingham, Alabama: where the Ku Klux Klan bombing at this church killed four girls in 1963.
Intersection of 16th Street/6th Avenue, Birmingham, AL; phone 205.251.9402; http://nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/al11.htm 
THE LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, Little Rock, Arkansas: in 1957, nine African-American teenagers braved an angry crowd to officially integrate into this school.
2120 Daisy Bates Drive, Little Rock, AR 72202; phone 501.374.1957; http://www.nps.gov/chsc/index.htm- THE NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD FREEDOM CENTER, Cincinnati, Ohio: find out all about the 100,000+ people who fled for freedom in the 1800s, helped by secret places and people who made it possible.
50 East Freedom Way, Cincinnati, OH 45202; phone 866.237.3336; http://www.freedomcenter.org/about-us/contact-us/ - THE TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, a place of hope and education for African-Americans, where Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver helped create a better life for fellow African-Americans, including George Washington Carver’s advances in agriculture, inventing hundreds of new uses for peanuts and sweet potatoes, improving the quality of life for many living in the south.
1212 West Montgomery Road, Tuskegee Institute, AL 36088; phone 334.727.6390; http://www.nps.gov/tuin/
For a longer list of historical civil rights’ sites, see “We Shall Overcome, Historic Places Of The Civil Rights Movement”, by the National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, at http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/sitelist.htm .
-Compiled by Lorri Cardwell-Casey
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