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 offered in partnership with Aurora University and as a component of Aurora University's HIS 2880 History of the Black Civil Rights Movement course, 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, helped bend the moral arc of the universe a little closer toward justice.
We'll first engage with the course material during sessions held on Aurora University's campus. Then, we'll retrace the footsteps and bus routes of that earlier period, visiting historic sites and museums, crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, and meeting in person unsung heroes and foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement. As lifelong learners, we’ll use history to reflect on the current day, and the outward journey to reflect on our inward lives, so that when we return home, we can apply what we have learned to make a difference in today's world.
We'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 legacies of slavery, and tells the story of racial terror lynchings in the United States.
Now is the time to learn what our heroic civil rights leaders knew as they stood in the gap, as brave veterans of the civil rights struggle have done for many decades. Come take your place on this long trail of history. Come see, sing, and learn from our civil rights forebearers how to make a new way in the struggle for justice.
Note for General Public
This Living Legacy Pilgrimage is being conducted in collaboration with staff and students from Aurora University, Aurora, Illinois. However, this Pilgrimage also has a limited number of seats available to the general public. If you decide to join us, please note that although this experience will not be significantly different from our general pilgrimages, the experience will focus on the students' needs to ensure an effective travel-based course.
Aurora University Students
For more information about this travel-based course, please contact Professors John McCormack ([email protected]) and Mary Shelden ([email protected]).
We'll first engage with the course material during sessions held on Aurora University's campus. Then, we'll retrace the footsteps and bus routes of that earlier period, visiting historic sites and museums, crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, and meeting in person unsung heroes and foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement. As lifelong learners, we’ll use history to reflect on the current day, and the outward journey to reflect on our inward lives, so that when we return home, we can apply what we have learned to make a difference in today's world.
We'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 legacies of slavery, and tells the story of racial terror lynchings in the United States.
Now is the time to learn what our heroic civil rights leaders knew as they stood in the gap, as brave veterans of the civil rights struggle have done for many decades. Come take your place on this long trail of history. Come see, sing, and learn from our civil rights forebearers how to make a new way in the struggle for justice.
Note for General Public
This Living Legacy Pilgrimage is being conducted in collaboration with staff and students from Aurora University, Aurora, Illinois. However, this Pilgrimage also has a limited number of seats available to the general public. If you decide to join us, please note that although this experience will not be significantly different from our general pilgrimages, the experience will focus on the students' needs to ensure an effective travel-based course.
Aurora University Students
For more information about this travel-based course, please contact Professors John McCormack ([email protected]) and Mary Shelden ([email protected]).
Registration Information
The Living Legacy Project partners with Educational Travel Adventures (ETA) to manage registration and logistical planning for the 2024 May Alabama Pilgrimage. ETA is an experienced educational 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 deadline is March 22, 2024, or earlier if the trip sells out.
Registration deadline is March 22, 2024, or earlier if the trip sells out.
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Registration Rates
All inclusive (except for transportation from your home to and from Birmingham).
Package includes:
Note: Please do not offer gratuities to the tour manager, driver, or Living Legacy Project staff. They are included or not necessary. |
How to RegisterRegistration is closed.
ItineraryArrivals and Departures into Birmingham
Arrival
This Pilgrimage begins at 3 pm Central, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Departure The bus will return to the Birmingham airport by 2:00 pm Central on Sunday, May 22. We recommend that you book a return flight that departs at 3:30 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. |
The site of the murder of the Rev. James Reeb in Selma, AL
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.
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Apply for a scholarship |
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We encourage those who are privileged by means of their color or economic advantage to contribute a full or partial registration to our Living Legacy Project Scholarship Fund. This amount will allow a person whose life has been impacted by color discrimination, the legacy of enslavement, racism, and or economic disenfranchisement.
The value of this Living Legacy Pilgrimage is priceless. By donating toward the cost of the trip, you have an opportunity to take concrete action toward healing the wounds of racism. 
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A limited amount of scholarship aid may be available to assist those who do not have the financial resources to afford the full cost of the Pilgrimage. Please complete the scholarship application as fully as possible. Scholarship decisions will be based on the information provided in this application. The number and the amount of the scholarships offered depend on the generosity of our donors.
All scholarship recipients must pay a minimum of $50 toward registration and most are expected to pay more. Applications that demonstrate how you might raise additional funds will be reviewed more favorably. Travel expenses are not included. However, don't forget to calculate the cost of round-trip travel to Birmingham in deciding how much of the registration fee to request. Note: Scholarship awards apply to double-occupancy only. If you do not have someone to room with, a roommate will be assigned to you. The deadline for receipt of scholarship applications is March 15, 2024. Following notification of grant awards, a completed registration form and the balance of fees are due by April 15, 2024. |
Pilgrimage Staff
This Living Legacy Pilgrimage and ETA provide four staff on this journey to provide education, music, and tour management. They are:
Civil Rights Movement Educators
The Living Legacy Project will provide two Civil Rights Movement educators who will guide you through the Pilgrimage experience.
The Rev. Dr. Gordon Gibson, secretary of the Living Legacy Project, has been involved in organizing and leading pilgrimages to civil rights sites since 2004. During the first weeks after Gordon was ordained, he was in Selma, Alabama, taking part in early phases of the 1965 voting rights campaign there. He also brings his experience of living in Mississippi 1969-1984 when he was the Unitarian Universalist minister in the state. For seven of those years he was also an investigator for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In retirement, Judy and Gordon Gibson live in Knoxville, Tennessee. Gordon is the author of Southern Witness: Unitarians and Universalists in the Civil Rights Era, an engaging account of the roles that UU individuals and congregations played in the civil rights movement in the South in the 1950s and '60s. Gordon currently serves as a member of the Board and as the LLP historian.
Music Educator
Because the Living Legacy Project recognizes how important the music of the Civil Right Movement was to its success, every Living Legacy Pilgrimage is staff by a phenomenal music educator and song leader, so be prepared to sing!
Reggie Harris, who serves as co-president of the Living Legacy Project, has earned distinction as one of the foremost interpreters and song leaders of the music of the Underground Railroad and the Modern Civil Rights movement. With a passion for peace and justice, Reggie travels worldwide using his gifts to share hope and raise awareness of human rights in the spirit of Dr Martin Luther King’s beloved community. Visit reggieharrismusic.com for more about his music. Reggie currently serves as co-president of the Board and Director of Music.
ETA Tour Manager: TBA
A tour manager (TBA) from Educational Travel Adventures will be a part of the team to make sure that everything runs as smoothly as possible. The tour manager will manage the meals, hotels, bus schedule, museum entrance, and all the other logistic details of the trip.
