Farmville, Virginia
A Forgotten Teenage Civil Rights Hero
We all know the civil rights giants. Martin, Rosa and Malcolm don't even require a last name.
But here's one you've probably never heard of: Barbara Johns.
The 15 year-old Virginia high school student launched a protest that ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court. For five years, the public schools in Prince Edward County, Va., simply shut down because they refused to mix black and white students. The remarkable story -- largely unknown today even in Virginia -- is told at a modest but growing museum in Farmville, Va., about 65 miles southwest of Richmond.
Read more about the amazing struggle here.
Greensboro, N.C.
A Sit-In that Tore Down Segregation
Four college dorm-mates just wanted to sit down and order a cup of coffee and a glazed doughnut. By the time they were finally served months later, they had introduced the phrase "sit-in" to the dictionary and helped demolish Jim Crow laws across the South.
Read more about the nation's newest civil rights museum here.
Selma's Violent March into History
Only 54 miles separate Selma and Montgomery, but that span helped changed history. The march to Montgomery is now preserved as a National Historic Trail, complete with markers and memorials. Read more here.
Top six cities for Dr. Martin Luther King history
No other name is so closely linked to the Civil Rights movement. A Civil Rights traveler can visit the most important Civil Rights sites just by touring the cities where Dr. King lived and made history.
Atlanta
Dr. King's story begins and ends in Atlanta. Visit the National Park Service's King site, his home pulpit, and his gravesite. Read more here.
Montgomery, Alabama
The Alabama capital was where Dr. King first became a pastor, and a historic figure. Visit his home, learn about his role in the bus boycott, and honor him and other victims of the civil rights struggle at a moving memorial. Read more here.
Washington, D.C.
Dr. King made international headlines during the March on Washington. Visit the site of his stirring address at the Lincoln Memorial. Read more here.
Birmingham, Alabama
See the cell where the Dr. King wrote his famous Letter from Birmingham jail. Confront police dogs captured in mid-attack, visit the church where four girls were murdered in Sunday school. Read more here.
Selma, Alabama
Walk across the Edmund Pettus bridge, site of the last significant confrontation of the Civil Rights era. Visit a museum and read recollections of participants. Take a city tour and see where Dr. King galvanized marchers. Read more here.
Memphis, Tennessee
As Dr. King had predicted, he never lived to see the country's racial wounds healed. Visit the motel room where he was gunned down. Read more here.