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Ohio → West Virginia → the Deep South

Freedom & Civil Rights Trail

The long road from slavery to voting rights

Trace the struggle for freedom from an Underground Railroad station on the Ohio River, through the raid that helped spark the Civil War, to the Selma bridge and the churches of the modern movement.

5 stops · roughly 1,051 miles end to end

The itinerary

  1. 1

    Rankin House — Underground Railroad

    Ripley, Ohio

    From his house above Ripley, John Rankin and his family sheltered more than 2,000 escaping enslaved people over four decades. The lantern in his window signaled safety across the river from Kentucky.

    African American History
  2. 2

    Harpers Ferry — John Brown's Raid

    Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

    Brown and 21 men captured the federal arsenal at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah. Cornered by U.S. Marines under Robert E. Lee, Brown was captured, tried, and hanged — becoming a martyr to abolitionists and a warning to the South.

    African American HistoryCivil War
  3. 3

    Martin Luther King Jr. Birth Home

    Atlanta, Georgia

    King was born and spent his early childhood in this two-story Queen Anne home. The surrounding Sweet Auburn district was a thriving center of Black business and culture.

    Civil RightsAfrican American History
  4. 4

    Dexter Avenue Baptist Church

    Montgomery, Alabama

    From this church near the Alabama Capitol, a young Dr. King led the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott after Rosa Parks's arrest. The boycott ended segregated buses and launched King to national prominence.

    Civil RightsAfrican American History
  5. 5

    Edmund Pettus Bridge

    Selma, Alabama

    Some 600 marchers crossing the bridge toward Montgomery were attacked by police with clubs and tear gas. Televised nationwide, the violence galvanized support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

    Civil RightsAfrican American History