Traveling Along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail

Take in some of the sites and landmarks across the American South that were pivotal to the Civil Rights Movement and the advancement of social justice

The Tougaloo Nine, from left: Joseph Jackson Jr., Geraldine Edwards, James Bradford, Evelyn Pierce, Albert Lassiter, Ethel Sawyer, Meredith Anding Jr., Janice Jackson and Alfred Cook

Nine Black College Students Were Arrested in 1961 for Reading at a Segregated Public Library. Their Contributions to the Civil Rights Movement Have Long Been Overlooked

Known as the Tougaloo Nine, the demonstrators staged a sit-in that helped the NAACP push for the desegregation of public spaces in Mississippi's capital

Family photographs decorate the master bedroom in the home of Civil Rights leaders Medgar and Myrlie Evers.

Smart News

Home of Civil Rights Hero Medgar Evers Is Now a National Monument

Before his assassination in 1963, Evers led civil rights demonstrations and investigated racial violence in Mississippi

The lasting legacy of the Greensboro Four (above from left: David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Jibreel Khazan and Joseph McNeil) was how the courageous moment grew to a revolutionary movement.

At the Smithsonian

Lessons Worth Learning From the Moment Four Students Sat Down to Take a Stand

One of the great monuments to the Greensboro Sit-In is at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History

Interactive Map of Our Coverage of the U.S. Civil Rights Trail

On the day of the Birmingham church bombing—September 15, 1963—white assailants also killed 13-year-old Virgil Ware (left) and 16-year-old Johnny Robinson (right).

History

The 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing Killed Four Young Black Girls. But They Weren't the Only Victims of Racial Violence in the City That Day

Hours after the attack, a police officer shot 16-year-old Johnny Robinson in the back. Then, a white teenager mortally injured 13-year-old Virgil Ware as he rode on the handlebars of his brother's bike

“If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated,” wrote Carter G. Woodson in a 1926 essay.

At the Smithsonian

A White Historian Claimed That Black People 'Had No History.' This Trailblazing Scholar Dedicated His Life to Proving Otherwise

Carter G. Woodson, the "father of Black history," founded the celebration now known as Black History Month in 1926. A prolific writer and activist, he viewed his efforts to educate the public as a "life-and-death struggle"

<p>The new Barbara Rose Johns statue was unveiled in Emancipation Hall at the U.S. Capitol on December 16.</p>

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Smart News

Traveling Along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail

Take in some of the sites and landmarks across the American South that were pivotal to the Civil Rights Movement and the advancement of social justice

Nine Black College Students Were Arrested in 1961 for Reading at a Segregated Public Library. Their Contributions to the Civil Rights Movement Have Long Been Overlooked

Home of Civil Rights Hero Medgar Evers Is Now a National Monument

Lessons Worth Learning From the Moment Four Students Sat Down to Take a Stand

Interactive Map of Our Coverage of the U.S. Civil Rights Trail

The 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing Killed Four Young Black Girls. But They Weren't the Only Victims of Racial Violence in the City That Day

A White Historian Claimed That Black People 'Had No History.' This Trailblazing Scholar Dedicated His Life to Proving Otherwise

She Protested School Segregation as a Teenager. Now She's Being Honored With a Statue at the U.S. Capitol

The Gun Linked to Emmett Till's Murder Is Now on Display at a Museum in Mississippi

The Youngest of the Little Rock Nine Speaks About Holding on to History

These Rare Photos of the Selma March Place You in the Thick of History

The Strike That Brought MLK to Memphis