ATLANTA, GA - January 15, 2018
/ January 15 not only marks Martin Luther King Jr.'s holiday in the United States; it is also the day that the U.S. Civil Rights Trail debuts.
Developed over the past twelve months, this trail is a collection of more than 100 churches, courthouses, schools, museums and other landmarks that played a pivotal role in advancing social justice in the 1950s and 1960s.
These sites within 14 states and the District of Columbia will allow visitors the ability to witness the destinations and landmarks that defined the settings of the American Civil Rights story.
"The civil rights movement encompassed the entire South, and this trail gives visitors one source for all the sites that tell that story today," said Wit Tuttell, director of Visit North Carolina & Chair of the TSUSA Board. "We worked with historians and scholars to curate this trail to showcase how the civil rights movement changed the South, the U.S. and the world."
While southern U.S. states produce the bulk of where the landmarks reside, there are several states outside of the southern region that have key Civil Rights sites, including Kansas, Delaware and the District of Columbia.
TSUSA has created the U.S. Civil Rights Trail Marketing Alliance, LLC to oversee the administration of this Trail. This Alliance is led and funded by the directors of each state's tourism organization.
Kevin Langston, deputy commissioner of economic development for tourism at the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), mentioned, "In recent years, the South has grown to become a top destination for travelers seeking authentic experiences that bring them closer to a place's past and present. The U.S. Civil Rights Trail connects travelers to the U.S. Civil Rights movement through historic landmarks and cultural institutions that played a vital role or help preserve the memory of our civil rights past. At every point along the trail, people will be walking where members of the Civil Rights movement walked, connecting them at an intimate level to this important story."