A Tour Through Civil Rights History - Day 2

We woke up to rain on Sunday morning.  Not a good sign as most of our plans are outside.  We packed up the room, ate breakfast and made a quick stop on our way out of Atlanta - Chick-fil-A Headquarters.  As I mentioned, it was Sunday and raining...so we opted for a quick picture by the sign (from the van). 

As we were heading southwest, into Alabama...we were met with a warm front.  The van windows instantly steamed up on the outside and the rain pretty much stopped.  We watched the outside temp go up 15° in a few miles!  It was one of the craziest things we've ever driven through!

As we came closer to the Alabama border, Matt told the kids to get ready for a picture.  I soon heard "Sweet Home Alabama" coming from one of the kids.  I found the song on my phone and we sang along as we passed from Georgia into Alabama.

First stop for the day - Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site.  We assumed that this Site would be open all weekend, but we were wrong!  It was closed for the day!  Luckily, the grounds were open so we enjoyed walking around and seeing the outbuildings and reading the boards.  We were bummed to miss out on seeing the planes inside the hanger though.

Back in the van, we headed to Tuskegee University - founded by Booker T Washington in 1881.  Both Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver are buried in a small cemetery located on the school grounds.

We left Tuskegee and traveled to Montgomery for a few hours of pure history.

We knew that Montgomery would be relatively quiet since it was a Sunday and we would be downtown, in the heart of the governmental district.  We were right!  It was nice to pull up to a stop and do things at our own pace (and not have to feed the parking meters).  We visited the Rosa Parks Museum and found that they were closed for the day.  We made the most of our time though and enjoyed the day while reading and remembering.

The spot where Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat...

Found this little guy - out for a Sunday stroll ON the building.

Frank M. Johnson, Federal Judge served at the building below. He was a great example of a white judge doing what was right in the south during some tumultuous years. Anyone, no matter the color of their skin, who stood before Judge Frank M Johnson would get a fair trial.

From Wikipedia; "Frank Minis Johnson Jr. (October 30, 1918 – July 23, 1999) was a United States Federal judge, serving 1955 to 1999 at the District and Appeals Court levels. He made landmark civil rights rulings that helped end segregation and disenfranchisement of African Americans in the South. In the words of journalist and historian Bill Moyers, Judge Johnson 'altered forever the face of the South.'"

Right behind the courthouse is the Greyhound Bus Station that was segregated, as well as a stop for the Freedom Riders that were met with violent resistance to their efforts. Of all the stops on this trip, this was the most moving for me. The time line and stories displayed on the building were very well put together and made you feel like you were there - the quotes, the stories, the pictures - documented well.  I still shake my head at the ugliness of society and people. 

In the picture below, you can see the boarded up door - "Colored Entrance". The sign states that there were separate entrances, restrooms, waiting areas, lunch & ticket counters.  If a "colored" person entered a "white" person area, they would be arrested.  Ugly, Ugly, Ugly...This stop was sobering to say the least.

We found a spot to park a bit closer to the Capitol Building.  Dexter Ave Baptist Church was our next stop (according to our handy dandy GPS!).  We had no clue that this church was one block from the Capital Bldg.  Dexter Avenue Baptist Church -- where Martin Luther King, Jr was a pastor of the church from 1954 to 1960, and organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott from his basement office.

By mere coincidence, we happened to visit Montgomery the 53rd anniversary, to the day, of the marchers arrival from Selma.

This is a cross walk that honors the marchers before the capitol building.

Here are a few pictures from the actual march to Montgomery (from Selma).

 

"At the end of the third march from Selma to Montgomery, 25,000 people gathered on the steps of the Capitol to hear Dr. King deliver his famous speech, 'How Long, Not Long.' The building, which housed Gov. George Wallace’s office, has been rehabilitated and restored to its original appearance." -- Civil Rights Trail Web Site

 “'… until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”'Dr. King’s famous paraphrase of Amos 5:24 is chiseled into the black granite of the Civil Rights Memorial, a moving tribute to those who died in the civil rights struggle between 1954 and 1968. Created by Vietnam Memorial architect Maya Lin in 1989" -- Civil Rights Trail Web Site

It was so nice to see green and flowers!  The weather was beautiful - a bit hot even!  We were all ready to sit in the van and cool down for a bit after being out in the sun (84°), walking in the heat.  Yet back home, we were getting hit by another snow storm!!

First White House of the Confederacy, where President Jefferson Davis and his family lived.

Holt Street Baptist Church -

"On the evening of Dec. 5, 1955, in the aftermath of Rosa Parks’ arrest, 5,000 people gathered at Holt Street Baptist Church. They filled the sanctuary, the basement auditorium and even spilled outside to hear the newly elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His stirring speech advocating action without violence gave rise to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Holt Street Baptist Church is still active today within the Montgomery community." --The Civil Right Trail Web Site

Rosa Parks wrote:

"By the time I arrived at the meeting, the church was so filled up that a crowd of hundreds spilled out into the street, and speakers had to be set up outside to accommodate everyone. The excitement around the church was electrifying, and I remember having a sense that something powerful was being born. I squeezed my way through the crowd to my seat on the platform, where a lively discussion about the boycott strategy was underway."

We left Montgomery with plans to head to our hotel for the night.  As we sat in the van finding our hotel on the GPS, we discussed the possibility of heading to Selma then to the hotel.  Selma Highway and Selma weren't on our agenda until the next morning but thanks to a lot (all!) of the museums being closed on Sunday, we had a lot of time to spare.  Because we had plenty of daylight left and the weather was nice so we decided to head there. 

Driving the Selma/Jefferson Davis Highway, we came across the camp sites where the marchers spent the night as they made their way to Montgomery.  From Selma to Montgomery is 54 miles - the marchers did this march in 4 days. They walked approx. 10 miles each day - camping along the way.

We stopped at the Lowndes Interpretive Center - a wonderful center (closed for the day!) that had many informative plaques and a beautiful setting to walk around.

This is a unique gate.

The gate itself, the giant arch, represents the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma- the starting point for the Marches for voting rights. In the middle of the gate is a tent city, that leads to the capitol building. This one gate symbolizes the Selma to Montgomery Marches -- beginning, middle, and end.

We arrived in Selma, snapped this picture, then drove across the bridge.  We found a place to park then snapped more pictures by the bridge...then walked across it.

Matt was curious about who Edmund Pettus was. As per Wikipedia;

"Edmund Winston Pettus (July 6, 1821 – July 27, 1907) was an American lawyer, soldier, and legislator. He served as a Confederate general during the American Civil War, during which he was captured three times. After the war he was a Grand Dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan and a Democratic U.S. Senator.

The Edmund Pettus Bridge across the Alabama River in Selma, Alabama, was named in his honor, ironically later becoming a landmark of the Civil Rights Movement."

 We ended our time in Selma by driving by the Brown Chapel.  "Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, the first AME church in Alabama, was the site of preparations for the march to Montgomery on March 7, 1965, a day that became known as Bloody Sunday. The church also served as a refuge for injured marchers. Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1997, the church is still in use today." -- Civil Rights Trail Web Site

We arrived at our hotel, picked up dinner and enjoyed a quiet evening watching TV and getting caught up on emails and looking through our pictures.  We were so glad that we decided to travel to Selma - that helped reduce our Monday travel by 3 hours! 

A Tour Through Civil Rights History - Day 1

This Civil Rights Tour was planned in Matt's mind over the last few years, but never followed through on. Matt looked at the dates of Spring Break and after some rearranging (7 misc. appointments for the kids!) and persuasion (I really wasn't looking forward to this trip.  So much driving, lots of history and hard lessons, big cities, just to name a few things!) , we booked our hotels and started making plans on paper. 

We left after school on March 23rd (Alex's Birthday).  Our goal was to drive to Clarksville, TN for the night.  It rained most of the drive south.  The rain cleared up enough for us to stretch our legs in Metropolis, IL -- the birthday girl was asleep in the van when we arrived, but that didn't stop the rest of us from getting out and seeing some Superman stuff!

One of the few remaining Phone Booths in America, Ha!

Our next quick stop was across the border in Paducah, KY. Whitehaven was lit up beautifully - a little different than we'd seen it 18 years before.

We found our hotel well after midnight and hit the beds hard - knowing that we'd be up early for a full day on the 24th.

We started out Saturday morning with two quick State Sign Photos.  We've been in Kentucky a couple of times but missed each opportunity to snag a picture.  First time for Tennessee for all of the kids.

Nashville, TN -"Student leaders confronted Nashville's mayor on the steps of the courthouse after months of lunch counter sit-ins and economic boycotts to protest segregation. Witness Walls is inspired by these events and people."

There was an anti-gun protest going on just a block away from here when we arrived. There wasn't any parking to be had, and some roads were blocked off altogether. Matt dropped us off and the kids and I walked up to Witness Walls.  It was a moving tribute to the sit-ins performed in Nashville.

We walked back to the corner, looking for Matt to come around the block to pick us up.  Maddie enjoyed the flowers while we waited.

Our first of MANY Historical Markers.  The Fifth Avenue Woolworth, where a number of successful sit-ins happened. They served as a model for later demonstrations that happened throughout the South

We left Nashville and headed south towards Chattanooga to see Lookout Mountain.

Along the way, we passed this rest area - a piece of Barman history!  When we traveled to Florida (when I was in high school), we stopped at this rest stop for a quick break.  Thanks to one of our family members (they know who they are!!) locking the keys in the car, our quick break turned in to a long stop!  Don't worry though, it all worked out! 

We drove to Lookout Mountain - enjoying the mountains as we headed south from Nashville.

It was cloudy/overcast and hard to truly enjoy the view. Matt had visited Lookout Mtn with his mom when he was the kids' age.  He was able to share the history of the importance of Lookout Mountain during the Civil War with us.  It is hard to imagine a battle being fought - the fear of those coming up the mountain as they hear the cannons being shot at them. 

Matt wanted to re-enact a picture from his first visit...

Will had fun stepping in to the frame...

The three are trying hard to hide the "museum" sign...evidently they didn't want to see the museum!  We ended up walking down that path for a while though.

The kids loved jumping around on the rocks - of course we asked them to pose for some pictures...

We found Umbrella Rock. Matt's Great-Grandfather, Frank Hiram Hart, had his picture taken with a couple of other men perched on top of this rock back in the 1930's/40's.

It doesn't look too scary from this angle (and it is impossible to get a good shot of it, as there is now a stone/brick wall right next to Umbrella Rock).

I've included two older pictures (taken before the fence was put up to keep people away from climbing on the rock).  The first one is of Frank (middle) with two friends.  Notice the river underneath. The second picture is one I found online - absolutely nuts!!!

We asked the kids to sit on this rock outcropping for a quick picture...and then they had some fun!

Lion King (when Scar kills Mufasa)

And Titanic...

We hadn't laughed that hard in a long time. 

We drove down the mountain and headed for lunch - next stop Georgia! (Ironically, we had already driven in and out of Georgia on Interstate 24).  We found the Georgia sign - probably one of the scariest stops yet.  The stop itself was fine.  Getting back in to traffic, not so fine! 

Welcome to Atlanta!

We drove around Atlanta to Stone Mountain Park - another spot Matt visited with his mom during that same trip to Lookout Mountain (back in the mid-1990's). We arrived just after 5:00 - the park was still open but the attractions were shut down.  It was nice not having the option as we still felt we had a lot to do before calling it a day.

We drove into the heart of Atlanta to visit the Jimmy Carter Library/Museum (closed for the night). We were blessed with an open parking lot and grounds that we could walk around and enjoy.  It was in the middle of the city - but so peaceful and serene.

We saw lots of these bushes/trees - completely pruned back for the season.  We found them interesting - maybe someone can clue us in on the name of these (I tried to Google it, but no luck).

I took a series of pictures of the kids standing on the steps in front of the library.  Unfortunately, there were a few bees enjoying their evening meal and the kids kept freaking out.  Here's a shot to prove it! Rather funny if you ask me!

Our itinerary for the trip was always "shifting".  We held loosely to our plans as we knew that some of the places were only open for a few hours.  When we hit Atlanta after 5:00, we knew that everything we planned for Saturday would need to be moved to Sunday.  We didn't mind walking around the Carter Presidential Center (and not going inside), but we were fearful that we would lose out on a lot of time because of a late start on Sunday (The MLK Center was already closed and wouldn't open again until 10 the next morning).  We didn't want to scratch that one off of our list, but we knew that waiting until Sunday would really hurt the rest of our trip.  We decided to drive to the Martin Luther King National Historical Park in hopes that we could walk around and see some of the buildings.  God blessed this decision - even gave us an open parking lot to park in!  We walked the tour and thoroughly enjoyed our time of learning and reflection. 

Ebenezer Baptist Church - where MLK and his father both pastored.

Totally unplanned, we were visiting many of these sites on or near anniversaries.  MLK was shot and killed on April 4th, 1968.  Many places we visited were preparing for ceremonies and events to honor his life and legacy - 50 years later.

Martin Luther & Coretta Scott King's Final Resting Place - Including an Eternal Flame.

Fire Station #6 - just a few doors down from MLK's house.  He would often play basketball with his friends behind the station. At that time, only white men were allowed to be firemen. The Atlanta Fire Department was integrated in 1963 when sixteen blacks were hired.

The kids in front of MLK's Childhood Home

While our initial plan had included touring the home and Ebenezer Church (as well as the Visitor's Center), we were thrilled to see what we did see.  We left the MLK National Historic Site and headed downtown to visit Centennial Park.

One can't go to Atlanta without snapping a few pictures of "World of Coca-Cola"!

Like Nashville, it was chaos downtown Atlanta (no parking spots, streets closed, people, officers)!  We drove around Centennial Olympic Park a few times, all the while looking for a parking place.  We knew that we would only be there for a few minutes (just long enough to walk through the park and take some pictures).  We really didn't want to find a parking garage or pay a lot to park.  We saw a sign while driving around, advertising the Final Four NCAA Basketball Tournament.  The Final Four Games were being held in Atlanta - right at the time we were driving around! So, once again, Matt dropped me and the kids at the park entrance and told us he'd meet us on the other side of the park. We kept our focus but enjoyed the park while we walked through.  It is a beautiful city park!

On the other side of the park is a huge Ferris Wheel.  Matt called to tell me where he was parked - right behind the Ferris Wheel!  We walked by the wheel and snapped a picture of the "smaller wheel - from Las Vegas" (Despicable Me quote).

By now, we are pretty tired and VERY hungry.  Maddie kept mentioning Chick-fil-A throughout the day.  She wanted cheese sauce.  I also promised the kids some ice cream for being such great troopers all day.  Matt and I looked at all the CFAs in the Atlanta area (yeah, there are a few...) and then I had a light bulb moment.  I knew of the Dwarf House (Truett Cathy's first restaurant) and thought that would be fun to visit/eat at.  We looked it up, assuming it would be out of our way and would not work out for us.  We were surprised and delighted when we found out that the Dwarf House was just miles away from our hotel!  It was a fun way to end our night. And by the way, the southern CFAs don't carry Cheese Sauce.  The cashier and manager looked at me like I had a 3rd eye when I ordered it!  Maddie was a bit disappointed.  Luckily, ice cream helped a bit!

Here I am, sitting with Truett Cathy - Founder of Chick-fil-A

A full day of traveling, history and site-seeing was in the books...We would get to our hotel and again crash when our heads hit the pillow!  Tomorrow we head West to Alabama.