Montgomery, AL. is known as the “birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement,” for its pivotal role in exposing the racial inequalities and helping rally the country to change. Rosa Park refused to go to the back of the bus in Montgomery, sparking a 13-month mass protest that ended with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., then living in Montgomery, led the boycott.
Today, four incredible tour guides are diving into this history and telling the full story of this capital city by acknowledging America’s tainted past and inspiring visitors and locals alike to fight for justice and equality.
They are:
Michelle Browder’s More Than Tours are specifically curated to showcase different parts of the city’s history such as its comprehensive Civil Rights Tour. Her popular Montgomery Mystery Tour takes guests through the secret tunnels beneath the city, formerly used by slave traders for discretion while transporting slaves.
Anne Clemmons has spent more than 12 as a tour guide with Triple E Group Services and specializes in Civil War history, the Civil Rights movement and historical sites across Alabama. Her tours include the city’s most important locations and explanations of the history behind them. She also offers multi-day tours spanning notable sites across the state including Selma, Tuskegee and Birmingham.
Born in Montgomery during the 1956 Montgomery Bus Boycott and raised during the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement, Wanda Battle founded Legendary Tours, which focus on powerful storytelling and the integration of music to convey the strength of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s non-violent movement and many other pieces of African-American history.
A child of the civil rights movement, Jake Williams was a participant in the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March when he was only 12 years old. His Montgomery Tours highlight the extraordinary journey of Montgomery from its role in the Confederacy to the stirring events of the 1960’s that literally moved the nation and all the places and people integral to this change.
www.visitmontgomery.com
