Smithsonian, NY Instances to supply 2021 excursions of Alabama’s civil rights landmarks – Yellowhammer Information

The travel departments of the New York Times and the Smithsonian Institute will be marketing escorted tours of civil rights landmarks in Birmingham, Montgomery, Selma and Tuskegee in 2021, Alabama state tourism director Lee Sentell said in a press release on Wednesday.

The press release indicated that groups would arrive as early as March with further tours in the fall.

Each tour is planned for six days. The cost of the Smithsonian Itinerary starts at $ 4,795 while the Times trip starts at $ 5,195. The cost covers hotel accommodation, most meals, and air transfers.

Both tours will reportedly trace the footsteps of the civil rights movement through the 16th Street Baptist Church, which was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan in 1963 and killed four young black girls. and the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where civil rights activists were brutally beaten back by state and local police. Itineraries immerse guests in pre-civil rights history, including visits to the Legacy Museum, the National Peace and Justice Memorial, the Tuskegee Airmen Historic Site and Tuskegee University, Sentell said.

The NYT wrote that “The collective oppression and struggle for civil rights reverberated in the United States of the 1950s and 1960s, but its loudest refrain was in the American South. With the expert guidance of the New York Times, explore Alabama to witness the sights and hear the stories of those who fought and died for equal rights. Even after decades, the echoes can still be heard. “

“The civil rights movement is an integral part of American history, and the New York Times reported and photographed right in the middle. The country is still wrestling with what it means to be equal. Alabama represents the epicenter in many ways, with names like Rosa Parks, Selma, George Wallace, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who, along with the incendiary bombs and protests, have a place in history, ”said the newspaper’s promotional material.

The Times trip also includes a private discussion with Peggy Wallace Kennedy, daughter of former Governor George Wallace (D-AL).

Sentell added that the Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites consortium assisted the Smithsonian in planning its trip. Most of the sites are on the US Civil Rights Trail, organized by the Alabama Tourism Department in 2017.

Additionally, National Geographic Traveler Magazine encourages independent travel to Yellowhammer State as “the ultimate adventure of the south.” A 12-page story published in 2019 was titled “National History and Family Heritage Combine on an Alabama Road Trip to Places on the US Civil Rights Trail.”

The 2019 London International Tourism and Travel Awards recognized Alabama Tourism and Birmingham’s Luckie and Company advertising agency for the best marketing campaign for their Civil Rights Trail campaign, Sentell said.

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn