Fall can be a great time to travel. There are fewer crowds, the leaves shine with warm colors, and the weather is cool enough for outdoor exploration.
While traveling offers many benefits, such as breaking away from routine and relaxation, it can also be an excellent opportunity to discover history and learn about the past.
If you want to take a trip this fall, here are five historic places where you can honor Black heritage and learn something new.
- Farmville, Virginia
The name Farmville, Virginia, may sound like a nursery rhyme song and is probably not on your bucket list of places to visit. However, it’s home to one of the most significant student walkouts in history. Led by Barbara Johns and John Arthur Stokes, 16-year-old students who organized a protest with other students, and together, they walked out of all-Black Robert Russa Moton High School to contest the school’s poor conditions. The momentous day happened on April 23, 1951, and later, this walkout was included in the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court case.
Place to check out on your visit: When in the neighborhood, check out Twin Lakes State Park. This historical place is excellent for fishing, boating, hiking, and swimming. The two recreation areas, Godwin Lake and Prince Edward Lake, were once only available to white residents of Prince Edward County. In 1950, the Prince Edward State Park for Negroes was opened. The parks combined in 1976 to be open to all.
The Moton Museum is also a National Historic Landmark site. This museum strives to preserve history by retelling the story of the Robert Russa Moton High School student protest.
- Vero Beach Florida
Florida was a state slow to desegregation. However, a baseball team in Vero Beach set the example for equality. In 1948, Dodgertown, a multi-sports facility in Vero Beach, became the South’s first integrated Major League Baseball training facility. For the first time in history, Black and white players from the Dodgers and Montreal Royals shared living quarters, played, and ate together.
While society continued with its racist regulations, the baseball team created its own rules. In 1954, their starting lineup featured an African American for the first time in history.
Things to do: Vero Beach is a place for nature lovers. One enchanting place to visit is the McKee Botanical Garden, which has the largest display of outdoor lilies in the United States. You can also check out the Indian River Lagoon, where you can take a boat to see animals such as manatees, dolphins, and birds.
- Birmingham, Alabama
If you know civil rights history, the name Birmingham rings an eerie bell. The city is well known for the Birmingham Riot of 1963, which occurred after the bombing of Gaston Motel and the home of Rev. A.D. King. Many African Americans were enraged by not only the occurrence of the incidents but also how poorly the police pursued its perpetrators.
As a result, riots broke out demanding justice. These riots later led to President Kennedy proposing a major civil rights bill that was later passed under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Must-see places: Visiting the civil rights district is necessary for a city with so much history. In 1993, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute was founded to help retell the historical moments of Birmingham’s past. These exhibits serve as windows into the past, transporting you back in time. Within the area, you can also visit the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, which was once a meeting ground for Black activists. Although it was bombed with no one inside, it holds strong today as a reminder of the past.
- Albany, Georgia
Of course, not every movement led to a happy ending in the fight for equality. Still, every demonstration and every fight was a significant crack in the downfall of segregation. One such movement was the Albany Movement in Georgia. In 1961, the National Association for the Advancement of Black People (NAACP) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) formed a desegregation campaign called the Albany Movement. Their goal was to desegregate an entire community. However, this goal was not achieved and led to the jailing of over 1,000 African Americans, even with the influence of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
However, this failure laid the groundwork for the success Dr. King Jr. would eventually have in Birmingham, Alabama.
Places to visit: The Albany Civil Rights Museum and Institute has well-documented educational exhibits on civil rights history. Within its walls, you can see documents of the past, such as photographs, voter registration, and much more.
The Ray Charles Plaza is another essential place to visit. Stationed in the middle of the plaza is a life-size sculpture of the music legend Ray Charles, who sits at a Baby Grand piano. Surrounded by running water that falls off into a reflecting pool, the sound of the water gives the impression that Charles is making music.
- Lafayette, Louisiana
One of Lafayette’s most significant civil rights events happened around the desegregation of Southwestern Louisiana Institute (SLI), now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, at the beginning of 1953. The NAACP sued the college for not permitting four Black students, Clara Dell Constantine, Martha Conway, Shirley Taylor, and Charles Vincent Singleton, to register there. Through persistent efforts, John Harold Taylor became the first Black student enrolled in the summer of 1954.
Things to do: If you visit Lafayette, you’ll have plenty to do, but visiting the Acadian Cultural Center or Vermilionville is a must. These folk-life centers present history through hands-on experiences of local traditions that continue to shape the city’s cultural landscape.
Before you leave, check out local music clubs for a unique musical experience with Cajun and Zydeco performers.
Visiting historic places is a great way to learn about the past in an interactive way. Which city will you explore next? For more information you can check out the Civil Rights Trail website.
