Black History Month is the perfect time to acquaint your family and yourself with some of the many African American historical sites that dot the South.
For those of us in Atlanta, we are spoiled for choice with the amount of Black history in our communities.
From the walks through Oakland Cemetery to Sunday service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, there are ways to experience our city’s Black history throughout the year. However, this Black History Month may call for some unique experiences past our city limits.
In the states that surround Georgia, there is also a hearth of Black history and culture that is worth exploring. If you want to make this February a memorable one, take a short road trip to one of these sites.
McLeod Plantation (Charleston, South Carolina)
This Charleston plantation once housed enslaved people before the U.S. Civil War and was owned by the original family until it was turned into a historical site in 2010. Today, it is part of a federally recognized cultural heritage site for the Gullah Geechee people, who were once forced to labor on plantations just like it.
Just under five hours from Atlanta, the McLeod Plantation provides an experience to learn more about the pain of the Atlantic Slave Trade and the cultural traditions lost in the process.
National Memorial for Justice and Peace (Montgomery, Alabama)
Finished in 2018, this memorial to Black victims of lynching in the United States is a monumental experience. Located about two and a half hours from Atlanta in Montgomery, the Equal Justice Initiative used 805 hanging steel rectangles to represent all the U.S. counties where lynching took place.
The outdoor memorial includes sculptures and monuments depicting violence against Black Americans.
After experiencing the memorial, visit the nearby museum run by the Equal Justice Initiative, The Legacy Museum, which focuses on how the history of slavery gave way to mass incarceration in America.
Credit: Adrian Sainz
Credit: Adrian Sainz
Lorraine Motel (Memphis, Tennessee)
In Atlanta, we are surrounded by the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. every day. One of the saddest parts of his legacy, however, is in Memphis.
The motel where King was assassinated in 1968 is now part of the National Civil Rights Museum. Experience this emotional history while learning about the future good that was created through King’s words and learn about the history of the Civil Rights Movement in a location you are unlikely to forget.
After making the almost six-hour drive to the “Home of the Blues,” visit other nearby Black historical sites like Beale Street and the Stax Museum to learn about the city’s history of Black music. You can also check out the Mason Temple, which was once the largest church owned and operated by Black Americans in the country.
Credit: Visit Mobile
Credit: Visit Mobile
Africatown Heritage House (Mobile, Alabama)
This monument to the survivors and descendants of people who came to the U.S. on the last known slave ship is about four and a half hours outside of Atlanta in Mobile. Those survivors created Africatown, a community that retained its West African culture and roots into the 1950s.
The Africatown Heritage House, first opened in 2023, has been hailed for its retelling of the history of what took place there.
Coastal tours and trails (Savannah, Georgia)
Most Atlantans know Savannah as the beach town located just about four hours away. But have you experienced the wealth of Black history that lives there?
Take one of the many Black history tours of the city and learn about everything from historical Black churches to sites where enslaved Africans were first brought to this country.
Closer to the beach, a team of researchers at Georgia Southern University created a Black history trail in 2023 for Tybee Island visitors. The trail points out 13 landmarks from slavery to the Civil Rights Movement.
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