U.S. Civil Rights Trail Features 11 Georgia Sites

Jan 16, 2018

Newly developed trail allows visitors to walk in the footsteps of Civil Rights leaders

ATLANTA, Jan. 16, 2018 – Georgia Tourism, a division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, announced today the inclusion of 11 historic sites on the new U.S. Civil Rights Trail.

For the first time, 14 Southern tourism departments have worked together to link the country’s most important civil rights sites - more than 130 landmarks, including museums, churches, courthouses and memorials that were pivotal to the advancement of social equality during the 1950s and 1960s.

“Georgia has always been a centerpiece of the Civil Rights Movement. As the birth home of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Center for Civil and Human Rights, Georgia is flourishing with existing landmarks and museums that immortalize this piece of monumental history,” said Kevin Langston, GDEcD deputy commissioner for tourism. “Much of this history can be experienced at the 11 sites in Georgia and we encourage travelers to visit the other sites across the South during their trip. At every point along the trail, people will be walking where leaders of the Civil Rights Movement walked, connecting them at an intimate level to this important story.”

The trail features 11 sites in Georgia that each have a strong connection to the state’s civil rights heritage. The sites include:

The mission of the U.S. Civil Rights Trail is to turn a complicated history into a transformative journey of meaningful discovery.  By combining the events, people, places, and stories that defined the Civil Rights Movement the Trail connects and commemorates the Movement through immersive and educational travel experiences and will share the stories that shifted the course of history.

The website, civilrightstrail.com profiles the landmarks and offers an interactive map, interviews with foot soldiers, past and present photographs and 360-degree video as special features. To experience more Civil Rights heritage in Georgia and to view each site on the trail visit ExploreGeoriga.org.

About GDEcD

The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is the state’s sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry and small businesses, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, and promoting the state as a destination for arts events and location for film, music and digital entertainment projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development. www.georgia.org


< Return to All Press Releases