A series of events took place in Alabama and throughout the South in the 1950s and 60s that culminated in the ultimate passage of the 1964 National Civil Rights Act and the 1965 National Voting Rights Act. On this five-day, four-night pilgrimage, you'll learn how each event, from the day in 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery to the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March, moved the arc of the universe a little closer to justice.
On this Pilgrimage, you'll visit historic sites and meet unsung heroes and foot soldiers — of the Civil Rights Movement. As a spiritual pilgrimage, we reflect on what we experience together so when we each return home, we can apply what we have learned to make a difference in today's world.
You'll also visit the Equal Justice Initiative's Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration and National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery. The museum provides a comprehensive history of the United States with a focus on the legacy of slavery and the memorial tells the story of racial terror lynching victims in the United States.
Now is the time to gain the knowledge you need to build a community of leaders who will stand in the gap as brave veteran of the civil rights struggle have done for so many decades.
Come take your place on this long trail of history. Come see, learn, sing, and make a new way in the struggle for justice.
The time is NOW!
On this Pilgrimage, you'll visit historic sites and meet unsung heroes and foot soldiers — of the Civil Rights Movement. As a spiritual pilgrimage, we reflect on what we experience together so when we each return home, we can apply what we have learned to make a difference in today's world.
You'll also visit the Equal Justice Initiative's Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration and National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery. The museum provides a comprehensive history of the United States with a focus on the legacy of slavery and the memorial tells the story of racial terror lynching victims in the United States.
Now is the time to gain the knowledge you need to build a community of leaders who will stand in the gap as brave veteran of the civil rights struggle have done for so many decades.
Come take your place on this long trail of history. Come see, learn, sing, and make a new way in the struggle for justice.
The time is NOW!
Itinerary
This five-day, four-night journey includes the following (subject to change):
Sunday, March 12, 2023*
Sunday, March 12, 2023*
- The bus will pick you up at the Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport or at the tour hotel (see below about Arrivals and Departures)
- You'll stop at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, the target of a racially motivated bombing that killed four girls.
- You'll visit Kelly Ingram Park, an improved public park that contains emotionally powerful sculptures depicting the civil rights struggle in Birmingham. The park served as an assembly spot for activities of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and other groups in the movement.
- You'll participate in a program at the Bethel Baptist Church, listed as a National Historic Landmark, a National Treasure and part of the Birmingham Civil Rights Monument, pastored by the fiery Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth.
- You'll visit the Zion United Methodist Church where Jimmie Lee Jackson, was shot and killed.
- You'll take a guided tour of Selma with a Voting Rights Campaign Veteran where you'll get first-hand personal accounts of the history of Selma's involvement in the Voting Rights Struggle.
- You'll take a walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.
- You'll drive to Montgomery from Selma on the National Historic Trail. The 54-mile trail follows the historic march by beginning at the Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma and crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
- You'll visit the Lowndes Interpretive Center. This National Park Service site is dedicated to those who peacefully marched from Selma to Montgomery to gain the right to vote.
- You'll visit the Viola Liuzzo Memorial.
- You'll visit the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Parsonage Museum where you'll experience the actual residence where Dr. King and his young family lived between 1954 and 1960.
- You'll take a driving tour of Montgomery, including Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and Alabama State Capitol
- You'll participate in a ritual at the Maya Lin Civil Rights Memorial
- You'll visit the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice.
- You will visit the Rosa Parks Museum
- You'll visit the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
- The bus will take you to the airport for your afternoon journey home.
Note: We're excited to announce that this Pilgrimage will include approximately twenty student and staff (about half of the total group) from a class entitled "Rhetoric of Black Civil Rights" taught by Dr. Denise Bostdorff at the College of Wooster, OH.
Arrivals and Departures into Birmingham
Arrival
This Pilgrimage begins at 2:00 Sunday afternoon, March 12, 2023. If you cannot get a flight into Birmingham that arrives before 2:00 pm, contact us at [email protected]. You might need to make your own arrangements to stay overnight Saturday night in Birmingham.
Departure
The bus will return to the Birmingham airport by 2:00 pm on Thursday, March 16th. We recommend that you book a return flight that departs at 4:00 pm or later. Although it's possible that you could make an earlier flight, we cannot guarantee it. Please contact us at [email protected] if you have questions about your departure time.
This Pilgrimage begins at 2:00 Sunday afternoon, March 12, 2023. If you cannot get a flight into Birmingham that arrives before 2:00 pm, contact us at [email protected]. You might need to make your own arrangements to stay overnight Saturday night in Birmingham.
Departure
The bus will return to the Birmingham airport by 2:00 pm on Thursday, March 16th. We recommend that you book a return flight that departs at 4:00 pm or later. Although it's possible that you could make an earlier flight, we cannot guarantee it. Please contact us at [email protected] if you have questions about your departure time.
Registration Information
The Living Legacy Project is partnering with Educational Travel Adventures (ETA) to manage registration and logistical planning for the 2023 Alabama Pilgrimage. ETA is an experienced tour company who will ensure that you have a comfortable journey so you can focus places you'll be visiting and the powerful stories you'll be hearing.
Registration Rates
- $1,395 (double occupancy rate, per person)
- $1,673 (single occupancy rate, per person)
- Bus transportation throughout your tour
- Professional tour manager with your group throughout the tour
- One night hotel accommodations in Birmingham
- One night hotel accommodations in Selma
- Two nights hotel accommodations in Montgomery
- Four breakfasts, five lunches and four dinners
- Gratuities for the tour manager
- Gratuities for the bus driver
- Site admissions
- Honoraria for speakers and special guests
- Staff stipends and expenses
- Travel to and from Birmingham, AL
- Personal gifts, books, souvenirs
- Donations
- Tips for housekeeping staff ($3-$5 per room per day recommended)
- Incidentals during the Pilgrimage
REGISTER
This Pilgrimage is currently SOLD OUT.
If you'd like to be adding to the Waiting List, please click the button below to complete the waiting list form. If a spot becomes available, we will contact you by phone or text (as specified on the Waiting List form). If we don't hear from you, we will have to move on to the next person on the list.
If you'd like to be adding to the Waiting List, please click the button below to complete the waiting list form. If a spot becomes available, we will contact you by phone or text (as specified on the Waiting List form). If we don't hear from you, we will have to move on to the next person on the list.
Questions?
If you're already registered, ETA'S excellent customer service is available for any questions you have about the registration process, travel insurance, or other needs you may have.
If you're already registered, ETA'S excellent customer service is available for any questions you have about the registration process, travel insurance, or other needs you may have.
- ETA's telephone hours are 9:00am to 5:30pm Eastern time, Monday through Friday: Toll Free: 1-866-273-2500
- You can also call email them at [email protected] and one of ETA's representatives will respond within 24 to 48 business hours.
Cancellation Policy
All deposits and payments are non-refundable. Trip cancellation insurance is available when you register and is strongly recommended. It enables you and your traveling companion to receive a full refund if you cancel due to a family or medical emergency. If you purchase the trip cancellation insurance and you are cancelling for a non-medical/family emergency reason, you will be covered under our "Cancel For Any Reason Program" and can still receive a 70% refund of your payments made. It also provided coverage in the event your trip is delayed due to an airline flight cancelation resulting from weather or mechanical failure.
Insurance enables individuals to cancel and receive a full refund in the event of a family or medical emergency. Insurance providing medical coverage while traveling, baggage loss and trip delay is already included with your package. Trip cancellation must be purchased within 15 days of making your reservation. It is recommended that you purchase it at the time you reserve. For further information, please see our detailed insurance document. You may purchase travel insurance on-line during the reservation process.
All deposits and payments are non-refundable. Trip cancellation insurance is available when you register and is strongly recommended. It enables you and your traveling companion to receive a full refund if you cancel due to a family or medical emergency. If you purchase the trip cancellation insurance and you are cancelling for a non-medical/family emergency reason, you will be covered under our "Cancel For Any Reason Program" and can still receive a 70% refund of your payments made. It also provided coverage in the event your trip is delayed due to an airline flight cancelation resulting from weather or mechanical failure.
Insurance enables individuals to cancel and receive a full refund in the event of a family or medical emergency. Insurance providing medical coverage while traveling, baggage loss and trip delay is already included with your package. Trip cancellation must be purchased within 15 days of making your reservation. It is recommended that you purchase it at the time you reserve. For further information, please see our detailed insurance document. You may purchase travel insurance on-line during the reservation process.
