Day 19:
Greensboro, NC – Richmond, VA
WE’RE BACK!
After a morning in the van, we arrived back at UR for a final discussion and course wrap-up. We retreated to our homes for a nice long nap…
Total miles traveled: around 3500!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Day 18
Day 18:
Charleston, SC – Greensboro, NC
After spending several hours in the van today, we arrived in Greensboro. We saw the statue honoring the four students who began the sit-ins here at NCA&T University.
When we went downtown to see the original Woolworth’s site where the sit-ins took place, we ran into the director of the International CR Museum, a developing project that will be housed at the former Woolworth’s site. Students could see the actual lunch counter from the time and the in-progress construction of this CR museum. We made a quick stop at the Greensboro Historical Museum to see the sit-in exhibit, and then we headed to UNC-Greensboro to meet with two scholars, one studying MLK and one who focuses on school integration in Mississippi.
Miles traveled: 350 miles
To date: 3150 miles
Charleston, SC – Greensboro, NC
After spending several hours in the van today, we arrived in Greensboro. We saw the statue honoring the four students who began the sit-ins here at NCA&T University.
When we went downtown to see the original Woolworth’s site where the sit-ins took place, we ran into the director of the International CR Museum, a developing project that will be housed at the former Woolworth’s site. Students could see the actual lunch counter from the time and the in-progress construction of this CR museum. We made a quick stop at the Greensboro Historical Museum to see the sit-in exhibit, and then we headed to UNC-Greensboro to meet with two scholars, one studying MLK and one who focuses on school integration in Mississippi.
Miles traveled: 350 miles
To date: 3150 miles
Friday, June 8, 2007
Day 17
Day 17:
Charleston, SC
We spent the morning and early afternoon speaking with a scholar/activist who studies the history of the Charleston CR movement. She and her family were active in the movement, and she was the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit to integrate Charleston’s public schools in the 1960s. Students then spent time in the Avery Research Institute researching their individual projects. We ended the day with a trip to nearby Folly Beach.
Miles traveled: 50 miles
To date: 2800 miles
Charleston, SC
We spent the morning and early afternoon speaking with a scholar/activist who studies the history of the Charleston CR movement. She and her family were active in the movement, and she was the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit to integrate Charleston’s public schools in the 1960s. Students then spent time in the Avery Research Institute researching their individual projects. We ended the day with a trip to nearby Folly Beach.
Miles traveled: 50 miles
To date: 2800 miles
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Day 16
Day 16:
Savannah, GA – Charleston, SC
Today, we explored the Gilbert Civil Rights Museum in Savannah, which focuses on the history of the CR movement in the city of Savannah and spoke with our guide there who had been integrated into white public schools via bussing in the city during the early 1970s. Students spent a few hours exploring the city before we headed to Charleston.
Miles traveled: 150 miles
To date: 2750 miles
Savannah, GA – Charleston, SC
Today, we explored the Gilbert Civil Rights Museum in Savannah, which focuses on the history of the CR movement in the city of Savannah and spoke with our guide there who had been integrated into white public schools via bussing in the city during the early 1970s. Students spent a few hours exploring the city before we headed to Charleston.
Miles traveled: 150 miles
To date: 2750 miles
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Day 16
Day 16:
Savannah, GA – Charleston, SC
Today, we explored the Gilbert Civil Rights Museum in Savannah, which focuses on the history of the CR movement in the city of Savannah and spoke with our guide there who had been integrated into white public schools via bussing in the city during the early 1970s. Students spent a few hours exploring the city before we headed to Charleston.
Miles traveled: 150 miles
To date: 2750 miles
Savannah, GA – Charleston, SC
Today, we explored the Gilbert Civil Rights Museum in Savannah, which focuses on the history of the CR movement in the city of Savannah and spoke with our guide there who had been integrated into white public schools via bussing in the city during the early 1970s. Students spent a few hours exploring the city before we headed to Charleston.
Miles traveled: 150 miles
To date: 2750 miles
Day 15
Day 15:
Atlanta, GA – Savannah, GA
We began the day in Atlanta. We screened the film An Intolerable Burden about desegregation efforts in Drew, MS (in the MS Delta) and then met with the film’s producer. We spent the afternoon exploring Auburn Avenue, including the MLK Visitor’s Center and birth home and the King Center, which includes his tomb.
Miles traveled: 240 miles
To date: 2600 miles
Atlanta, GA – Savannah, GA
We began the day in Atlanta. We screened the film An Intolerable Burden about desegregation efforts in Drew, MS (in the MS Delta) and then met with the film’s producer. We spent the afternoon exploring Auburn Avenue, including the MLK Visitor’s Center and birth home and the King Center, which includes his tomb.
Miles traveled: 240 miles
To date: 2600 miles
Day 14
Day 14:
Birmingham, AL – Atlanta, GA
Some students attended the Juneteenth worship service at the 16th Street Baptist Church this morning (the site of a bomb explosion on a Sunday morning in 1963 that killed four young girls). We spent the afternoon exploring the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and the adjacent Kelly Ingram Park, which chronicles aspects of the movement through sculpture.
Miles traveled: 160 miles
To date: 2360 miles
Birmingham, AL – Atlanta, GA
Some students attended the Juneteenth worship service at the 16th Street Baptist Church this morning (the site of a bomb explosion on a Sunday morning in 1963 that killed four young girls). We spent the afternoon exploring the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and the adjacent Kelly Ingram Park, which chronicles aspects of the movement through sculpture.
Miles traveled: 160 miles
To date: 2360 miles
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Day 13
Day 13:
Selma, AL - Montgomery, AL - Birmingham, AL
We began today by visiting some other sites in Selma, including the Brown Chapel AME Church which served as the gathering point for the Selma to Montgomery marches and the voting rights demonstrations. We spent the bulk of the day in Montgomery at the incredible Rosa Parks Museum and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
We also met with a participant of the Selma-to-Montgomery marches at the end of the day before we traveled to Birmingham.
Miles traveled today: 160
To date: 2200
Selma, AL - Montgomery, AL - Birmingham, AL
We began today by visiting some other sites in Selma, including the Brown Chapel AME Church which served as the gathering point for the Selma to Montgomery marches and the voting rights demonstrations. We spent the bulk of the day in Montgomery at the incredible Rosa Parks Museum and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
We also met with a participant of the Selma-to-Montgomery marches at the end of the day before we traveled to Birmingham.
Miles traveled today: 160
To date: 2200
Friday, June 1, 2007
Day 12
Day 12:
Louisiana - Mississippi - Selma, AL
After a long drive into Alabama, we visited the amazing National Voting Rights Museum in Selma, AL late this afternoon.
A participant of the march (who was in the 6th grade at the time) was there to lead us through the exhibits, which included a wall where participants (including activists, state troopers, rioters, etc) could write about their experiences in the Selma-to-Montgomery march to advocate for equal voting rights for all.
As marchers originally crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they were met on the other side by an angry mob. Today, a memorial park on the far side of the bridge and this museum commemorate the series of 50 mile marches to Montgomery.
Miles traveled today: 300
To date: 2040
Louisiana - Mississippi - Selma, AL
After a long drive into Alabama, we visited the amazing National Voting Rights Museum in Selma, AL late this afternoon.
A participant of the march (who was in the 6th grade at the time) was there to lead us through the exhibits, which included a wall where participants (including activists, state troopers, rioters, etc) could write about their experiences in the Selma-to-Montgomery march to advocate for equal voting rights for all.
As marchers originally crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they were met on the other side by an angry mob. Today, a memorial park on the far side of the bridge and this museum commemorate the series of 50 mile marches to Montgomery.
Miles traveled today: 300
To date: 2040
Day 11
Day 11:
New Orleans, LA - Gulfport/Biloxi, MS
Today, we visited CR sites in New Orleans and headed to the Gulf Coast to see rebuilding efforts in those areas nearly two years after Katrina. We also saw the beach at Biloxi which was the site of violence in response to "beach-ins" to demand integrated beaches in the early 1960s. We ended the day with a discussion on CR in New Orleans (including Juliette's article!) and activism in Selma around voting rights in preparation for our visit there tomorrow.
Miles traveled today: 140
To date: 1740
New Orleans, LA - Gulfport/Biloxi, MS
Today, we visited CR sites in New Orleans and headed to the Gulf Coast to see rebuilding efforts in those areas nearly two years after Katrina. We also saw the beach at Biloxi which was the site of violence in response to "beach-ins" to demand integrated beaches in the early 1960s. We ended the day with a discussion on CR in New Orleans (including Juliette's article!) and activism in Selma around voting rights in preparation for our visit there tomorrow.
Miles traveled today: 140
To date: 1740
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Day 10
Day 10:
New Orleans, LA
Today, students went on their own to a variety of different Civil Rights-related sites around New Orleans. We later met for a group dinner at Emeril's restaurant, NOLA, in the French Quarter.
New Orleans, LA
Today, students went on their own to a variety of different Civil Rights-related sites around New Orleans. We later met for a group dinner at Emeril's restaurant, NOLA, in the French Quarter.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Day 9
Day 9:
New Orleans, LA
Today was a tough one for us as we saw first-hand the communities devastated by the levee breaches from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. A reporter for the Times-Picayune (see picture above) led us on an extended tour of the areas of the city most affected by Katrina, including the Lower Ninth Ward.
We spent a few hours touring around these areas of the city and seeing where the levees broke and the extensive damage done to these communities. We later met with a professor at Tulane University who gave us a historical overview of the city of New Orleans and discussed contemporary issues about the city and post-Katrina politics.
The students are looking forward to their “free day” tomorrow when they are on their own to research their individual research projects connected to the course.
Miles traveled today: Only around the city
To date: 1600
New Orleans, LA
Today was a tough one for us as we saw first-hand the communities devastated by the levee breaches from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. A reporter for the Times-Picayune (see picture above) led us on an extended tour of the areas of the city most affected by Katrina, including the Lower Ninth Ward.
We spent a few hours touring around these areas of the city and seeing where the levees broke and the extensive damage done to these communities. We later met with a professor at Tulane University who gave us a historical overview of the city of New Orleans and discussed contemporary issues about the city and post-Katrina politics.
The students are looking forward to their “free day” tomorrow when they are on their own to research their individual research projects connected to the course.
Miles traveled today: Only around the city
To date: 1600
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Day 8
Day 8:
Jackson, MS – New Orleans, LA
We saw several Jackson sites this morning, including Medgar Evers home and statue (the local NAACP leader who was murdered by a shot to the back in his driveway), Tougaloo College, and the state capitol. We traveled to New Orleans in the afternoon to our hotel on Bourbon Street.
[I was short on pictures today... so here's one of me! Brian and I made our way down to Cafe du Monde by the Mississippi for their famous cafe au laits and beignets as soon as we arrived in New Orleans.]
Miles traveled today: 200
To date: 1600
Jackson, MS – New Orleans, LA
We saw several Jackson sites this morning, including Medgar Evers home and statue (the local NAACP leader who was murdered by a shot to the back in his driveway), Tougaloo College, and the state capitol. We traveled to New Orleans in the afternoon to our hotel on Bourbon Street.
[I was short on pictures today... so here's one of me! Brian and I made our way down to Cafe du Monde by the Mississippi for their famous cafe au laits and beignets as soon as we arrived in New Orleans.]
Miles traveled today: 200
To date: 1600
Day 7
Day 7:
Indianola, MS – Greenwood, MS – Money, MS – Jackson, MS
We continued our tour of the Delta today with various stops, including the store (now in complete disrepair) in Money, MS where 14 year old Emmett Till whistled/spoke/or in some way communicated with the store owner’s wife for which he was brutally killed and thrown in the nearby Tallahatchie river in the mid-1950s. After we arrived in Jackson (where the students immediately jumped in the hotel pool), we spent the evening at a cookout hosted by one of Brian's friends at the local reservoir.
Miles traveled today: 200
To date: 1400
Indianola, MS – Greenwood, MS – Money, MS – Jackson, MS
We continued our tour of the Delta today with various stops, including the store (now in complete disrepair) in Money, MS where 14 year old Emmett Till whistled/spoke/or in some way communicated with the store owner’s wife for which he was brutally killed and thrown in the nearby Tallahatchie river in the mid-1950s. After we arrived in Jackson (where the students immediately jumped in the hotel pool), we spent the evening at a cookout hosted by one of Brian's friends at the local reservoir.
Miles traveled today: 200
To date: 1400
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Day 6
Day 6:
Oxford, MS – Clarksdale, MS – Ruleville, MS – Greenville, MS – Indianola, MS
We spent the day traveling the Mississippi Delta. We started by touring the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, MS, located at the crossroads of “Blues” Highway 61 and Highway 49. We ate lunch at Morgan Freeman’s Ground Zero (celebrating its 6th anniversary today), also in Blues Alley by the museum. We saw several sites throughout the Delta. At Fannie Lou Hamer’s gravesite, we stumbled upon a group of local community people, including the mayor, who are working to renovate and expand the site to better commemorate Hamer’s work in the CR movement. While we were there, Charles McLaurin (SNCC activist and campaign manager for Hamer) arrived by chance (or luck, on our part) and gave an impromptu talk to our group.
We also saw the Blues murals of Leland, the Mississippi river levee at Greenville, and we ended the day in Indianola, the birthplace of Blues legend B.B. King.
Miles traveled today: around 200
To date: 1200
Oxford, MS – Clarksdale, MS – Ruleville, MS – Greenville, MS – Indianola, MS
We spent the day traveling the Mississippi Delta. We started by touring the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, MS, located at the crossroads of “Blues” Highway 61 and Highway 49. We ate lunch at Morgan Freeman’s Ground Zero (celebrating its 6th anniversary today), also in Blues Alley by the museum. We saw several sites throughout the Delta. At Fannie Lou Hamer’s gravesite, we stumbled upon a group of local community people, including the mayor, who are working to renovate and expand the site to better commemorate Hamer’s work in the CR movement. While we were there, Charles McLaurin (SNCC activist and campaign manager for Hamer) arrived by chance (or luck, on our part) and gave an impromptu talk to our group.
We also saw the Blues murals of Leland, the Mississippi river levee at Greenville, and we ended the day in Indianola, the birthplace of Blues legend B.B. King.
Miles traveled today: around 200
To date: 1200
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Day 5
Day 5:
Memphis, TN - Oxford, MS
Today, we left Memphis early to head to the University of Mississippi, better known as Ole Miss, in Oxford, MS. Students spent the day researching in the special collections and archives there, and then we met with Charles Eagles, a scholar who studies the integration of the university, in the late afternoon. The picture above shows the memorial statue on-campus of James Meredith, the first African American to integrate Ole Miss in the early 1960s. Bullet holes from rioting over his integration can still be seen in the columns of the Lyceum.
Miles traveled today: 120
Total miles: nearly 1,000
Memphis, TN - Oxford, MS
Today, we left Memphis early to head to the University of Mississippi, better known as Ole Miss, in Oxford, MS. Students spent the day researching in the special collections and archives there, and then we met with Charles Eagles, a scholar who studies the integration of the university, in the late afternoon. The picture above shows the memorial statue on-campus of James Meredith, the first African American to integrate Ole Miss in the early 1960s. Bullet holes from rioting over his integration can still be seen in the columns of the Lyceum.
Miles traveled today: 120
Total miles: nearly 1,000
Friday, May 25, 2007
Day 4
Day Four:
Memphis, TN
• We leave our hotel (right across from the Peabody) and walk to the National Civil Rights Museum, which was once the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968. This museum opened in 1991 and recently expanded across the street to include the building which is believed to be the location from which King’s murderer shot him. This portion of the museum focuses mainly on theories surrounding King's murder.
• After a lengthy museum visit, we gather at our hotel for discussion and then head over to Rhodes College to meet with faculty members there who study the CR movement and who are involved in the Crossroads to Freedom project, an online project that gathers and digitizes primary sources from the local Memphis-area CR movement.
Miles traveled today: Only over to Rhodes and back – how we miss the van!
To date: 850
Memphis, TN
• We leave our hotel (right across from the Peabody) and walk to the National Civil Rights Museum, which was once the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968. This museum opened in 1991 and recently expanded across the street to include the building which is believed to be the location from which King’s murderer shot him. This portion of the museum focuses mainly on theories surrounding King's murder.
• After a lengthy museum visit, we gather at our hotel for discussion and then head over to Rhodes College to meet with faculty members there who study the CR movement and who are involved in the Crossroads to Freedom project, an online project that gathers and digitizes primary sources from the local Memphis-area CR movement.
Miles traveled today: Only over to Rhodes and back – how we miss the van!
To date: 850
Day 3
Day Three:
Nashville, TN – Memphis, TN
• We spend the morning in the Nashville Public Library’s beautifully furnished Civil Rights Reading Room in downtown Nashville, just a few blocks from the site of the Nashville sit-ins that began in early 1960.
• We walk down to the Arcade at 5th Avenue to see the (completely faded) sign that (once) listed the “rules of engagement” for students participating in the 1960 sit-ins.
• We briefly stop by the campus of Fisk University on our way out of town.
• We finish the day by eating world-famous Rendezvous ribs in Memphis and heading out to Beale Street.
Miles traveled today: 200
To date: 850
Nashville, TN – Memphis, TN
• We spend the morning in the Nashville Public Library’s beautifully furnished Civil Rights Reading Room in downtown Nashville, just a few blocks from the site of the Nashville sit-ins that began in early 1960.
• We walk down to the Arcade at 5th Avenue to see the (completely faded) sign that (once) listed the “rules of engagement” for students participating in the 1960 sit-ins.
• We briefly stop by the campus of Fisk University on our way out of town.
• We finish the day by eating world-famous Rendezvous ribs in Memphis and heading out to Beale Street.
Miles traveled today: 200
To date: 850
Day 2
Day Two:
New Market, TN – Knoxville, TN – Nashville, TN
• We wind our way up the hillside of East Tennessee to the Highlander Research and Education Center (formerly the Highlander Folk School). We learn about Highlander’s place within the Civil Rights movement and also about its long-standing mission to bring together communities of people to learn from each other to effectively organize for social justice. Highlander epitomizes the grassroots strategy of organizing, stressing non-hierarchical roles, equally valuing everyone’s knowledge, and situating knowledge within communities. We also learned about Highlander’s more recent work, including its current concentration on issues of language and immigration. The activist/educator who spoke with us left us all with the question to ponder concerning the greatest areas that we see as in need of social change and organizing to make that change occur today.
• We meet Cynthia Fleming at the historically Black Knoxville College in Knoxville, TN. Cynthia gives us a history of KC, its situation within the larger Knoxville community (particularly concerning its relationship with the nearby University of Tennessee), and a broader history of the role of Black institutions in the Civil Rights movement. A KC alumna herself, she also spoke about her days at the college during Black Power, and the tensions and problems she encountered as a woman within the Black Power movement.
Miles traveled today: 250
To date: 650
New Market, TN – Knoxville, TN – Nashville, TN
• We wind our way up the hillside of East Tennessee to the Highlander Research and Education Center (formerly the Highlander Folk School). We learn about Highlander’s place within the Civil Rights movement and also about its long-standing mission to bring together communities of people to learn from each other to effectively organize for social justice. Highlander epitomizes the grassroots strategy of organizing, stressing non-hierarchical roles, equally valuing everyone’s knowledge, and situating knowledge within communities. We also learned about Highlander’s more recent work, including its current concentration on issues of language and immigration. The activist/educator who spoke with us left us all with the question to ponder concerning the greatest areas that we see as in need of social change and organizing to make that change occur today.
• We meet Cynthia Fleming at the historically Black Knoxville College in Knoxville, TN. Cynthia gives us a history of KC, its situation within the larger Knoxville community (particularly concerning its relationship with the nearby University of Tennessee), and a broader history of the role of Black institutions in the Civil Rights movement. A KC alumna herself, she also spoke about her days at the college during Black Power, and the tensions and problems she encountered as a woman within the Black Power movement.
Miles traveled today: 250
To date: 650
Day 1
Day One:
Richmond, VA – Farmville, VA – East TN
• We visit the Moton Museum in Farmville, VA to learn about the student strikes at the high school in 1951, the NAACP-sponsored Prince Edward County school desegregation case (with plaintiff Barbara Johns) that became one of the five cases rolled in to Brown v. Board of Education in Topeka, KS, [The Brown decision in 1954 struck down the “separate but equal” first upheld in Plessy v. Ferguson nearly sixty years early in 1896.], and PEC’s closing of the public schools for five years from 1959-1964 in its resistance to integration.
• At the museum, we hear a local history professor outline the history of the school desegregation movement, watch a video filled with oral histories from Moton students at the time, and speak with two students and activists from the time period.
Miles traveled today: 400
To date: 400
(We are *loving* the van! Just kidding…)
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