On the Road to Freedom: Understanding Civil Rights Through Our National Parks and Heritage Areas

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Available Dates:

November 12-17, 2025

6 days/5 nights

Minimum/Maximum: 10 guests/16 guests

Itinerary Highlights

• Tour the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute with Charles Woods, the institute’s education director and trainer
• Immerse yourself in the history of civil rights with Dr. R. Luckett, director of the Margaret Walker Center and an associate professor in the Department of History at Jackson State University
• Explore the newly opened Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery. Set on a 17-acre site by the river where tens of thousands of enslaved people were trafficked, this powerful memorial features stunning art and original artifacts, offering an immersive and interactive experience
• Spend time with Carolyn McKinstry, a 16th Street Baptist Church bombing survivor, and Joanne Bland, the youngest person to have been jailed during any civil rights demonstration during the 1950s and ‘60s
• Engage with NPCA experts and partners to learn about the successful designation of a new national park site honoring the lives and legacies of Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley
• Embark on a journey through the Mississippi Deltaand see first-hand why NPCA is prioritizing necessary protections for the region’s abundance of civil rights history
• Enjoy a special meeting with Keena Graham, superintendent of Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument in Jackson, Mississippi

Itinerary

Day 1: November 12 — Arrivals to Birmingham: Arrive in Birmingham, Alabama and make your way to the Elyton Hotel, built in 1906 during Birmingham’s golden era when it was one of the country’s great industrial and manufacturing centers. We will have a welcome reception, dinner and special program with speakers at the hotel to kick off the trip. Elyton Hotel (D)

Day 2: November 13 — Birmingham to Montgomery: We will begin with a visit to four of the seven sites affiliated with the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, a national park site that NPCA helped establish in 2017. Our first stop is Kelly Ingram Park, where we will meet with Carolyn McKinstry. At age 14, Carolyn was inside the 16th Street Baptist Church when a bomb killed four young girls on September 15, 1963. Kelly Ingram Park was the site of civil rights rallies, demonstrations and confrontations in the 1960s. A series of statues pay tribute to what happened here. We will then cross the street to visit the interior of the 16th Street Baptist Church. Afterward, we will explore Birmingham Civil Rights Institute with Charles Woods, the institute’s education director and trainer. This interactive museum tells the story of the Civil Rights Movement with a focus on Birmingham. Our last stop as part of the monument tour is the A.G. Gaston Motel, which stood at the center of several significant chapters of the Civil Rights Movement. This run-down motel will soon be repaired and annexed by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute becoming the new Freedom Center, an educational hub that will focus on the Civil Rights Movement and other cultural topics.

Lunch will be at Ashley Macs located in the Pizitz Food Hall. After lunch, we will drive to Selma to meet Joanne Bland. Beginning in her childhood, Bland was a highly active participant in the Civil Rights Movement and at 8 years old was the youngest person to have been jailed during any civil rights demonstration during the 1950s and ‘60s. We’ll then head to the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel in Montgomery to check in. After we check into the hotel, enjoy an evening at leisure. Renaissance Montgomery Hotel (B, L, D)

Day 3: November 14 — Montgomery: We will visit educational sites in Montgomery, Alabama and learn about NPCA’s successful efforts to establish the Alabama Black Belt National Heritage Area. This key heritage area helps connect people to the unforgettable stories of individuals in the Alabama Black Belt who risked and lost their lives during the civil rights era. We’ll depart the hotel for a special visit of the Centennial Hill area with Dr. Valda Harris Montgomery, whose parents, Richard and Vera Harris, were both closely connected to the leaders and activists of the Civil Rights Movement. Their home, just four houses down from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s parsonage, was a haven for Freedom Riders and many others. Next, we will continue to the newly opened Legacy Museum, situated on a site where enslaved people were once warehoused — a block from one of the most prominent slave auction spaces in America. The Legacy Museum, created by the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), tells the history of racial inequality and economic injustice in the United States.

After lunch at a local restaurant, we’ll visit the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Created by the Equal Justice Initiative, the Memorial for Peace and Justice was conceived with the hope of creating a site where people can gather and reflect on America’s history of racial inequality. End the day at Equal Justice Initiative’s Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, a 17-acre plot of land filled with sculptures, historic slave dwellings and other artifacts, to honor the millions of Black people who were enslaved in America. Located on a bluff above the Alabama River, the park looks out over the exact areas where the slave trade brought thousands of Black people into the city by boat and train. The centerpiece of the site is the National Monument to Freedom, which stands 43 feet tall and 150 feet long. Enjoy dinner this evening at Bricklayers Hall, an historic building and union hall that rose to national significance during the Montgomery Bus Boycott and played a critical role in the development of the Civil Rights Movement. Joining us will be Josephine Bolling McCall, a retired nationally certified school psychologist and the first Black president of the Alabama Association of School Psychologists. She currently serves as the president of The Elmore Bolling Foundation, which she founded to preserve the legacy of her father, a successful Black entrepreneur and philanthropist who defied all odds to create an integrated array of transportation and farming businesses in the Jim Crow South. His success led to his death at the hands of white people who routinely lynched Black competitors to maintain systems of white supremacy. Renaissance Montgomery Hotel (B, L, D)

Day 4: November 15 — Montgomery to Jackson: We will drive to Jackson, Mississippi with a rest stop en route. Upon arrival in Jackson, we’ll have lunch at the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO). In 1961, COFO was established as an umbrella organization to unify and meet the needs of a host of local organizations and an increasing presence of civil rights organizations in Mississippi, including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). COFO’s office at 1017 John R. Lynch Street opened in 1963, and it served as the state headquarters for the modern Mississippi Civil Rights Movement. Civil rights historian Dr. R. Luckett, director of the Margaret Walker Center and an associate professor in the Department of History at Jackson State University, will join us here. His expertise focuses on the modern Civil Rights Movement and the African American experience. Also joining us here will be Hezekiah Watkins, Mississippi’s youngest Freedom Rider who was arrested at age 13.

From here we’ll drive to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. The museum takes visitors through the European slave trade, Civil War, Reconstruction and the birth of Jim Crow and continues with the post-World War II era and a room dedicated to Emmett Till. We will end the day with a guided tour of Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument with superintendent Keena Graham. After check-in at The Westin Jackson hotel, we’ll dine with Dr. Luckett. The Westin Jackson Hotel (B, L, D)

Day 5: November 16 — Cleveland: The day begins with a two-hour drive from Jackson through the flatlands of the Mississippi Delta to Cleveland, passing sites important to the legacy of Emmett Till. These sites include the first marker on the Mississippi Freedom Trail, which was placed in Money at the remains of the Bryant’s Grocery, and Graball Landing, where Till’s body was recovered from the confluence of the Tallahatchie River and the Black Bayou. Our next stop is Sumner and the Emmett Till Interpretive Center/Sumner Court House, which tells the story of the Emmett Till tragedy and points a way toward racial healing. We will meet with Patrick Weens and Benjamin Saulsberry to learn of the apology resolution written by the community of Sumner. We’ll also discuss NPCA’s work to commemorate the life and legacy of Emmett Till, Mamie Till-Mobley and the larger civil rights stories throughout the Mississippi Delta.

After lunch, we’ll drive 40 minutes to Mound Bayou, a town founded in 1887 by former slaves. From the start, Mound Bayou was designed to be a self-reliant, autonomous, all-Black community. For decades, the community prospered, becoming famous for empowering its Black citizens in the cotton industry. Today, there are just a few businesses left and the population is below 1,500, a fraction of what it once was. Here, we will meet Darryl and Hermon Johnson, NPCA partners and Mound Bayou natives, for a walking tour of Mound Bayou historic district, including TRM Howard House and Taborian Hospital, built in 1940 by the largest Black construction company in the country — McKissack and McKissack Construction Company of Nashville, Tennessee.

Afterward, we will drive a short distance to Cleveland and the Cotton House, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel, where we will share a farewell reflection dinner in a private room catered by the Delta Meat Market. With internationally influenced dishes rooted in Mississippi Delta culinary traditions, Delta Meat Market serves up the ground-breaking cuisine of James Beard Award nominated Chef Cole Ellis. Cotton House, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel (B, L, D)

Day 6: November 17 — Memphis: After breakfast, we’ll drive two hours to Memphis and the Lorraine Motel, now the home of the National Civil Rights Museum. Walter and Loree Bailey bought the motel in 1945. Under the Baileys’ ownership, it became a modest safe haven for Black travelers and visitors who were welcomed with home-cooked meals. The sight of his eventual death, Martin Luther King Jr. stayed at the motel numerous times. After our moving visit, we’ll have lunch at Four Ways Restaurant, located in Soulsville. The afternoon will focus on Memphis’ music history. We will visit the Stax Museum of American Soul Music to gain insights into the Civil Rights Movement within the context of the Memphis music scene. The day ends with drop-offs at the airport. (B, L)

Please note: Accommodations and activities are subject to change at any time due to unforeseen circumstances or circumstances beyond NPCA’s control.

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MORE INFORMATION: For full details on this trip, including inclusions, exclusions, accommodations, terms and safety protocols, please download the detailed trip brochure.

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