Written by: Rebecca Straits (Rjs006@marietta.edu)
While many students at Marietta College were traveling home during fall break to spend time with their families, a small group went on a five-day educational trip to Alabama. Here the students had the opportunity to learn about slavery and the Civil Rights Movement during Marietta’s annual Black History Trip.
Arriving in Alabama two hours early, the students had a busy schedule ahead of them. During
the trip, Marietta students visited many museums and historic sites dedicated to the preservation
of the civil rights movement and Black history.
On the first day, students were in Montgomery, Alabama, where they visited the Dexter Avenue
King Memorial Baptist Church. The still active church is a historical landmark known for the
civil rights activist and preacher Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
On the second day of the trip, the students made their way to the Equal Justice Initiative, a
nonprofit law office whose goal is to expose racial biases in the criminal legal system. Later in the day, the group toured the Legacy Museum, a museum that tells 400 years of American history.
For their third day away, Marietta students made their way to the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park and
the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Both the park and memorial were created to honor victims of racial terror and enslavement in America.
The students took a tour of Selma, Alabama to kickoff day four of the excursion. The students also met with activist Ms. Barbara Barge, who was a teenager during the civil rights march from Selma to
Montgomery. Here she discussed the importance of Selma, Alabama and answered questions about her experiences.
One student, freshman Ollie Carpenter, had this to say when asked what their favorite part of the
trip was: “All of the learning. Learning about stuff that was downplayed most of the time.”
For many Americans, we tend to think of the Civil Rights Movement as a far-off piece of the
past, but that just isn’t true. Though the Civil Rights Movement happened in the 50’s and 60’s,
such as the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott or the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, we
can still see the effects of the movement in action all over the United States. Such as in 2016 when the last
segregated school closed, and that was only nine years ago.
Educational trips like these are crucial in teaching future generations about American history, and many Marietta students have already expressed excitement for future trips like this one. This trip is another example of Marietta College’s dedication to experimental education for a unique learning experience throughout higher education.
Edited by: Zachary Worstell (zdw001@marietta.edu)
