WHMS Civil Rights Trip 2019

Today our class woke up in a great hotel in Memphis. This hotel is placed on the full-of-life Beale Street.  After a relaxing morning, we started off at 9 am.  From there we took a short bus ride to the MLK, Jr. reflection park.  This metal sculpture and plaques surrounding it gave information about Martin Luther King, Jr. Here we reflected with a silent time.  Continuing our reflection, we marched in the footsteps of the striking sanitation workers who demanded better working conditions.  After the short walk we arrived at Bishop Charles Mason Temple.  This is where Dr. King delivered his final and most famous speech, "I've Been to the Mountaintop" when he knew his life was in danger.  On the steps of the temple the 8th graders performed part of the speech, each doing a few lines from the end the speech.  After another silent reflection, we came upon the Lorraine Motel.  This motel was kept in identical condition to when MLK, Jr. was killed...

Today was our last full day on our Civil Rights Trip.  The theme mostly today was music and it took place in Memphis .  The first thing we did was go to Stax.  Stax was a music studio that was open in the 1950's and 60's.  We walked in and got a little introduction about Stax' history.  Then wee watched a short movie about Stax.  The movie told us that the studio was integrated.  Some of the biggest singers back then recorded their music there.  Otis Redding, the Staple Singers, Sam and Dave and Isaac Hayes.  Then the rest of it was a self-guided tour.  There were many different displays of was there when it was open.  There was a blue Cadillac that was trimmed with 24K gold and had white padding and carpet in the inside.  there was different records that were published and the cases of the records. there was different songs playing that were made then.  After we walked, we drove to a different  part of town in Memp...

Today, the third day of our Civil Rights trip, we spent the morning in Montgomery, Alabama, and the afternoon touring Selma with a Civil Rights activist. This morning we went to the Equal Justice Institute, or EJI. There were two locations, the actual museum, and the lynching memorial. The museum was created and curated by Bryan Stevenson, an activist and lawyer. The first location, the museum, had many interactive exhibits and very interesting videos regarding lynching, mass incarceration, and slavery. Some of these include: phone conversations with inmates, conversations with people in slavery, and many stories of lynching. The people working at the museum went around to different lynching sites and collected soil. Now, in the museum, there is a wall full of jars of dirt, in order to honor and name those who were lynched. The second section of the museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, was very impactful to me. It was crazy to see the amount of pe...

Today was the second day of our Civil Rights Journey around the South.  Yesterday we had a lot of fun climbing up Stone Mountain. Today, we left the hotel at 8:30 to board the bus. We then started the 2 hour bus ride to Montgomery, Alabama.  When we arrived, we started our day with the Rosa Parks Museum. The museum was very thorough in the telling of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott story.  We watched educational videos and read about the Montgomery Improvement Association and all of the work they did in this movement.  We had a very informative guide.  After the museum we ate pizza at the Mellow Mushroom, a funky cafe just around the corner from the museum.  After our delicious lunch, we walked up tie the Montgomery Greyhound bus station, which is now a museum dedicated to the Freedom Riders.  The museum is located inside the surviving part of the old station.  We learned that the Freedom Riders were a group of integrated people who rode...

Day 1 by Rose Beberwyck Today was a very busy day for the students. All three of the flights were very smooth and gave everyone a chance to socialize. Once we arrived in Atlanta, we were all better rested than when we arrived at the airport so early. Our plans were a bit altered due to our flights, but we visited both the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Historic Center and Stone Mountain. The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Historic Center was our first visit, which all of the students were fascinated by. There were many moving passages and exhibits, which helped us to understand more about MLK's past and his impact on both the Civil Rights Movement and our everyday life. We watched a short film on King's life, and spent some time reflecting and learning about his every day life while we visited his childhood home and the church where, he, his father, and his grandfather all preached. Next, we traveled to Stone Mountain where we viewed the large Stone Mountain carving. The carving fe...

MLK, Jr. home  Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King  Dr. King's Church - father and grandfather Ebenezer Baptist Church atop Stone Mountain