Civil Rights Road Trip - Tuskegee, Atlanta and Nashville
While at the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, Leo Dilts ’24 tries out a flight simulator known as the Link Trainer.
Students visit the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site. The Tuskegee Airmen gained notice and respect as the result of a test conducted by the U.S. Army Air Corps to determine if African Americans had the mental and physical abilities to lead, fly military aircraft, and courage to fight in war.
Tuskegee Airmen were not just pilots. They were technicians, radio operators, medical personnel, quartermasters, parachute riggers, mechanics, bombardiers, navigators, meteorologists, control tower operators, dispatchers, cooks, and others.
Omar Akinsika of Roundabout Atlanta Tours and Transportation leads a shuttle bus tour throughout the city. Students got to discover Atlanta’s deep connection to the Civil Rights Movement, visit famous historic landmarks and see popular Hollywood film and TV locations.
Students grab photos of a mural in Atlanta that features Civil Rights icons, including Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis, and reads “we shall always march ahead.”
Students visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park, which consists of several buildings in Atlanta including Dr. King's boyhood home, the original Ebenezer Baptist Church, and The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., was baptized as a child in the Ebenezer Baptist Church, located in Atlanta, Georgia. King’s funeral was also held in the church in 1968.
A mural of the former NFL quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick can be found in Atlanta. Kaepernick is well known for protesting injustice and police brutality by refusing to stand for the national anthem.
Students explore the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. The Center’s iconic exhibitions feature the papers and artifacts of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; the history of the US civil rights movement; and stories from the struggle for human rights around the world today.
Logan Smith ’23 (left) and Carter Nevil ’24 examine a color-coded map of the world that shows which countries are free, not free and partly free based on respect for civil and political rights.
After learning about the training involved in non-violent protests, Alex Barr ’22 participated in a lunch counter sit-in simulation, placing himself in the shoes of protestors in 1960.
Michael Rojas-Landers ’23 (left), Drew Johannes ’23, Heisman Skeens ’23 and Leo Dilts ’24 closed their eyes and listened to the threats that non-violent protestors heard during the sit-in simulation.
Jackson Miller ’23 (far left on counter), Logan Smith ’23 and Elijah Weddington ’22 test the simulation. In cities such as Greensboro and Nashville, college students staged non-violent “sit-ins,” asking to be served at whites-only lunch counters to protest segregation.
Jackson Miller ’23 views an exhibit inside the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.
A mural in downtown Nashville dedicated to John Lewis. Lewis was one of the 'Big Six' leaders of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, continued to fight for people's rights after joining Congress in 1987.
Students explore downtown Nashville, the last stop on the Civil Rights Immersion Road Trip.
The last stop of the Civil Rights Road Trip was at the National Museum of African American Music. The NMAAM is the only museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the many music genres created, influenced, and inspired by African Americans.
Students listened to and learned about more than 50 music genres and styles that were created, influenced and/or inspired by African Americans, including spirituals, blues, jazz, gospel, R&B, and hip hop.
Clayton Allen ’23 listens and downloads music from different eras featured at the National Museum of African American Music.
A Louis Armstrong record and trumpet are on display at the museum. Armstrong was a jazz trumpeter, bandleader and singer known for songs like 'What a Wonderful World.”
Elijah Weddington ’22 (left) and Chase Breaux ’24 dance to music of the decades at the museum.
Clayton Allen ’23 plays the diddly bow. A diddley bow is a handmade instrument which was inspired by African instruments. Many blues musicians played the diddley bow as their first instrument. You make music by strumming the string and change pitch by moving the slide up and down.
“On 13 February 1960, 124 students from Nashville’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities walked into Woolworth’s, Kress’ and McClellan’s, sat down at the lunch counters and asked to be served to no avail. … Their goal was to desegregate Nashville lunch counters.”
Wabash students pose outside Woolworth’s in Nashville. It was one location where students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities staged non-violent protests during the Civil Rights Movement.