Matt started planning out our 2019 Spring Break Trip while he was planning our 2018 Spring Break Trip! The theme for both of these trips was a Civil Rights History Tour. While planning the 2018 Trip, Matt mapped out all of the stops that he wanted to make. He quickly realized that it wouldn't be possible to do them all in one trip so he divided the stops into 2 years. This is our second half of the Civil Rights History Tour.
As we left home, we were blessed to watch the sunrise. Current temp of 28°! Excited to enjoy warmer temps for a few days.
Day 1 was all driving. Our hotel for the first night was located in Batesville, MS. We made the usual stops - meals, rest areas and a few letterboxes in Memphis.
Driving over the Mississippi, into Memphis, we snapped a few pictures of the flooding. We were dealing with flooding in the Quad Cities as well and had heard that the flooding down south was much worse. It was devastating to see.
We snapped a picture of this bridge and the Bass Pro Shop Pyramid at the end of our trip last year. Was fun to see if from the other side.
Our only "stop" of the day was in Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis.
Matt wrote, "In doing a little research for this trip, I found out that Shelby Foote, distinguished Civil War historian and commentator in Ken Burns Civil War (one of my all time favories!!!), is buried in Memphis, TN. So, I had to stop to pay my respects."
Anyone who knows Matt, knows his love for history...esp the Civil War! He could sit and listen to Shelby Foote for hours!
Elmwood is a beautiful, old cemetery! The monuments and stones were unique and amazing to look at. It was also wonderful to see so much color! Spring had arrived in Memphis!
Arriving in Batesville, MS, we made a quick stop for dinner at Backyard Burger - a first for us. Pretty good food for a fast food joint. We noticed this huge cross as we came in to town. After dinner, we stopped to look at the cross up close. The church who built the cross also put in a small parking lot and some benches. It was a nice stop - a nice place to reflect and to praise our Lord & Savior.
After a full day of sitting in the van, we were a bit goofy with a bit of extra energy!
After getting situated in our hotel room, Matt & Kaitee ventured back out to find a few letterboxes and stop at Walgreens to pick up some medicine for Maddie (darn cough was still lingering).
Day 2 - we woke up to cloudy, overcast skies. I had checked and re-checked my weather app over the past few days and never saw rain on this day! Urgh. All of the things we had planned for this day were outside. Rain or shine, we would run our plans. We may get a bit wet in the process. We had a very busy day ahead of us so we hit the road soon after the sun came up!
By the time that we arrived at Tallahatchie County Courthouse, the rain had moved off but no sun yet. We were thankful none the less. It actually seemed fitting that the clouds were still present - it would match the mood of the day with the things we would see and read about.
Matt showed us a
documentary before the trip - it was really well done and it helped us to realize the true ugliness of the story.
Matt wrote: One of the driving forces behind this trip was the story and inspiration of Emmett Till.
I first heard about Emmett during my teenage years.
I'm not sure what draws me to his story so much, but I am.
His tragic story reveals the depths of evil that the human heart can stoop to. I can't fathom the hatred that possesses a person to kill a child...but, J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant didn't just kill a child, they tortured and mutilated him.
I seriously don't know if I can put into words what Emmett's martyrdom means to me, or why I feel so intrinsically drawn to him, his story, and that of his beloved mother, Mamie.
The redemptive aspect to Emmett's story is based solely on Mamie's God given strength to show the world that hatred can do.
She was quiet, humble and unbending. She relied on God for her strength and was able to speak out in words and actions (open casket funeral, showing up for the trial).
Our drive through the Mississippi Delta took us through Emmett's story backwards.
It was here, at the Tallahatchie County Courthouse, that Emmett's murderers stood trial. It was here that Emmett's murderers were found innocent, by an all white jury. It was here that injustice unfolded, revealing itself to the world - thanks to Mamie's strength. News cameras were there to show the world what injustice there could be if your skin was the wrong color.
August 1955 was one of the many pinnacles, where true justice took a backseat. But, it was also here that sparked a movement.
4 months later, December 1955, another quiet and humble woman found the strength to become unmovable.
"I thought of Emmett Till, and when the bus driver ordered me to move to the back, I just couldn't move." - Rosa Parks
After walking around the town square and courthouse, we walked down to the Little Tallahatchie River. The recess of floodwaters was still evident on the riverbank.
On the way out of town, we saw the Sumner water tower, painted as a cotton boll.
We continued driving south as we followed the story of Emmett Till. It was Sunday, so all of the Interpretative Centers were closed for the day. We read the boards and looked around, having a reflective moment at each stop.
This is the Glendora Gin, where Emmett Till was brutally tortured and murdered.
Amid the sorrow and heavy hearts, we did chuckle when we saw this guy. He was so excited to see us (this is his excited face!) and he followed us through the area. A true Mississippi Blood Hound!
We left that area and continued to the "River Site" - where Emmett's body was found 3 days after his kidnapping.
Hatred is still alive in this country. This is the second sign that has been placed in the area - both sets have been riddled with bullets.
We had to park a little off the water and walk down. There was a moment of reflection as we took in the magnitude of Emmett's death. We explained that he was only 14 years old - away from home & his mother. The fear he must have felt and the pain he was dealt - un-explainable and un-excusable. He was the same age as our kids and that struck a chord in all of our hearts.
Driving to the River Site, we drove a few miles on gravel roads that went along cotton fields. I chuckled and said, "you know we are from the North when we stop and take a hundred pictures of cotton!".
We had one more stop to conclude our Emmett Till stops - The Bryant's Grocery. This is where the story started. The grocery has turned to a building of rubble - we were still able to see the name on the building. It's hard to imagine that such an ugly part of our country's past started right in this spot. Even scarier - it was only 60 years ago.
Next stop, as we headed to lunch, was
Tallahatchie Flats. These pictures show the share cropper shanties that have been moved to this location and "refurbished" into rustic cabins.
While planning out our trip stops, I was looking at the map and couldn't believe it when I saw "Itta Bena" on the Mississippi map! I quickly pulled up the clip from O Brother Where Art Thou and played it for Matt. We did some more research and found out that most of the film was filmed in Mississippi. We were able to pinpoint a few of the locations that would be near our travels and added them to our agenda!
Yazoo City was a very fun stop for us! In the movie, O Brother Where Art Thou, the bank that Babyface Nelson robs is the bank in the next picture. We had fun re-enacting the robbery (finger guns...because those win every time!)
From the movie...
As we walked towards the Hardware store, we admired the town. Very colorful and eclectic!
The Yazoo City Hardware Store is the location of the Woolworths in O Brother Where Art Thou. Here is Will, throwing the girls out of the store.
Maddie was done walking with her crutches, so I gave her a ride back to the van. Will hitched a ride with Alex and Kaitee tried her hand with the crutches.
From Yazoo City, we headed to Valley Park. This stop was totally out of our way (we were going to Vicksburg). However, this stop was to see the radio tower from the movie! Unfortunately, the radio station was only built (and then demolished) for the filming of the movie. The radio tower is still standing, so we headed to Valley Park to get some pictures.
We knew that the flooding *could* be an issue...but we NEVER envisioned this kind of flooding! Looking on a map, Valley Park is close to 15 miles from the Mississippi River, but it is a part of the Mississippi Delta. Watching news footage, locals said that this was the worst flooding they had seen since 1973.
We got to our turn to go to the radio tower. No luck...
We'd have to settle for this picture from the Movie...
We turned back towards Vicksburg - our agenda included stops at the Old Court House, a letterbox and Vicksburg National Military Park.
We stopped to find a box and to read the history of "Old Douglas" at Cedar Hill Cemetery. What a fascinating piece of history!
The Old Court House Museum was beautiful! As Matt said, "this building is seen in many old photographs from the Civil War time".
We arrived at Vicksburg Battle Site with about an hour before closing. While we didn't take much time to get out and explore all the different monuments and history boards, we did enjoy the quiet drive around the battlefield. It was peaceful & serene. The weather was now much warmer, the sun was shining and the breeze gently tickled the grass as we sat on the steps of the Illinois monument and reflected on the hallowed ground before us.
We looked through the names in the Illinois monument to see if we could locate my relatives who fought at Vicksburg. We weren't prepared! We found one name but not the other.
Due to recent storm damage, a part of the park was closed/re-routed. We opted to not take the detour and head to the exit. Time wasn't on our side at this point and we still had a few more stops before getting to our hotel for the night.
Edwards, Mississippi was the filming location for the ending scene of O Brother Where Art Thou.
From the movie...
Our last stops for the day were in Jackson, MS. We stopped at Medgar Evers Library and his Home.
Matt said, "Medgar Evers was an important person in the trial of Emmett Till - he went around looking for and interviewing potential witnesses against J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant. Thanks to Medgar, the prosecution had several surprise witnesses...not that it mattered in the end, but Medgar still played an important role there.
He was assassinated in front of his house by a member of the KKK.
Medgar, a WWII Veteran, is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C.
"You can kill a man, but you can't kill an idea."
We drove downtown to see the capitol building and a few other Civil Rights monuments/buildings.
The "new"capitol building was built in 1903 - it was where Mississippi legislature passed Jim Crow Laws. It was also where the "March Against Fear" ended, with a rally including notable speakers such at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
We got out and walked all the way around the capitol. Another beautiful building!
We stopped at the Greyhound Bus Station (Freedom Rides) in Jackson as well as Woolworths (sit-ins).
The Old Capitol Building as the sun was setting.
Mississippi Civil Rights Museum...
We stopped at The Pizza Shack (a very "hole in the wall" type of pizza joint, but highly recommended online) for dinner than hit the road towards our hotel. We stopped to snap a few more pictures of the capitol building before hitting the road.
Our original plan was to spend the night in McComb, MS...earlier in the day, we decided to cancel that reservation and try to get a bit closer to New Orleans, where we would start our 3rd day. We crossed over into Louisiana - a first for 5 of us! We stopped at the welcome center/rest area for a restroom break and photo op. It was absolutely deserted - no semis either. It was nice, but rather eerie.
We arrived at our hotel in Metairie, LA around 10:45, having been on the road since 6:45 that morning (up since 5:45). We saw & processed some things that were unthinkable in our minds. We were exhausted and just a bit testy from being in the car all day. We knew we'd have another long day ahead of us, so we hit the beds fast & hard.
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