10 Civil Rights Sites to visit as Black History Month closes
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Black History Month comes to a close. Here are ten sites recommended by Vernon Burton, a history professor at Clemson University, one of the nation’s top public research universities and South Carolina’s second-largest university.
Black History Month serves as a reminder for many to dig deeper into African American history and its profound significance for how we understand the past, present and future in the United States. This month we have highlighted why Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have always been and continue to be important. We have also highlighted how several colleges and universities have decided to engage in slavery reparations.
The struggle for civil rights can be remembered in historical sites all over the nation. “[These sites] are where ordinary Americans changed the laws in this country with civil disobedience. I would call these places hallowed ground,” shares Vernon Burton, an emeritus history professor at South Carolina’s Clemson University. Burton has shared ten historically notable, but sometimes overlooked sites, with USA TODAY. Let’s take a look at them!
(1) Benjamin Mays Historic Site
Greenwood, South Carolina
“He’s an unsung hero. He was the godfather of the civil rights movement,” shares Burton.
(2) Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site
Topeka, Kansas
(3) Southern Tenant Farmers Museum
Tyronza, Arkansas
(4) International Civil Rights Center and Museum
Greensboro, North Carolina
(5) Mississippi Civil Rights Museum
Jackson, Mississippi
(6) The Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center
New York
(7) Albany Civil Rights Institute
Albany, Georgia
Civil rights protestors were always inspired by music. Music buoyed them during confrontations and even when they were locked up in jail. Visitors can hear these songs during monthly concerts led by one of the original Freedom Singers, a group of female performers who found international fame.(8) The Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center
Scottsboro, Alabama
(9) The National Great Blacks in Wax
Baltimore
(10) Green McAdoo Cultural Center
Clinton, Tennessee
These sites, recommended by Clemson University’s history professor Vernon Burton, are only ten of hundreds of thousands of sites in the states where anyone can visit to learn more about African-American history. Are you fascinated by history? Are you interested in studying African-American history and culture? Several of the top colleges and best universities in the U.S. offer bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, and even doctoral degrees (PhD) in history or African-American studies.
There are other bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, and doctoral degrees (PhD) that you may want to look into if you care about exploring the significance of social, political, economic, and cultural history for the past, present and future. You may want to consider a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, or doctoral degree (PhD) in history. You may want to consider a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, or doctoral degree (PhD) in law and legal studies. You may want to consider a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and even doctoral degrees (PhD) in language culture studies.