Georgia, Other Southern States Join To Promote Civil Rights Tourism

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January 15th, 2018

In this Monday, Jan. 16, 2017, file photo, the tomb of Martin Luther King Jr., and his wife Coretta Scott King is seen as the sun sets, in Atlanta. The site is among about 130 locations in 14 states being promoted as part of the new U.S. Civil Rights Trail, which organizers hope will boost tourism in the region.

Branden Camp / Associated Press, File

Southern states that once fought to maintain racial segregation are now banding together to promote civil rights tourism at sites including the building where the Confederacy was born and the motel where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. died.

Fourteen states stretching from Kansas to Delaware, including all of the Deep South, are joining to promote the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, which will highlight about 130 sites linked to the modern civil rights movement. The joint effort is being unveiled as part of the MLK holiday weekend.

Individual Southern states have used such promotions for years, beginning with a black history trail launched by Alabama in the 1980s, but never before have they joined together in a single push to bolster civil rights tourism, said Lee Sentell, a leader of the effort.

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