The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute chronicles the civil rights movement and is a wonderful source of information both to visit in person and on-line to learn about the movement in general and specifically about the role that Birmingham played in the civil rights movement.
The Human Rights Center (at the University of Minnesota Law School) is a wonderful resource for human rights education. Besides having perhaps the most extensive on-line library of HR education resources in the country they also have a k-12 human rights education tool-kit called “This Is My Home” (TIMH)
The Highlander Research and Education Center is a residential popular education and research organization based on a 106-acre farm in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, twenty-five miles east of Knoxville, Tennessee.
Since its founding in 1932 by Myles Horton, Highlander has gathered workers, grassroots leaders, community organizers, educators, and researchers to address the most pressing social, environmental and economic problems facing the people of the South. Highlander sponsors educational programs and research into community problems, as well as a residential Workshop Center for social change organizations and workers active in the South and internationally. Generations of activists have come to Highlander to learn, teach, and prepare to participate in struggles for justice.
Highlander’s work is rooted in the belief that in a truly just and democratic society the policies shaping political and economic life must be informed by equal concern for and participation by all people. Guided by this belief, we help communities that suffer from unfair government policies and big-business practices as they voice their concerns and join with others to form movements for change.
Over the course of its history, Highlander has played important roles in many major political movements, including the Southern labor movements of the 1930s, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1940s-60s, and the Appalachian people’s movements of the 1970s-80s.
The International Civil Rights Center and Museum, in Greensboro, NC, is a wonderful place to visit in person and on-line to learn about the 1960’s civil rights movement, in general, and the sit-in movement specifically. the Center has turned the Woolworth’s building where the sit-in occurred that sparked months of sit-ins across the country.
The National Civil Rights Museum, in Memphis, TN, is located at the Lorraine Motel (site of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) and offers a compelling overview of the major activities of the civil rights movement as well as in-depth exhibits of the assassination story. The museum also awards the National Freedom Award every year. Dorothy Cotton is the 2010 recipient of the National Freedom Award.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (in Montgomery, Alabama) was founded in 1971 as a small civil rights law firm. Today, the Center is internationally known for its tolerance education programs, and its legal victories against white supremacist groups. In addition, SPLC is the location of the Civil Rights Memorial , which honors the achievements and memory of those who died during the Civil Rights Movement, a period framed by the momentous Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954 and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King in 1968. The memorial serves as a vehicle for education and reflection about the struggle for equality.
The Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center, in Tuskegee, Alabama, was established in 1997, originally and primarily, to serve as a permanent memorial to the victims and survivors of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. The men of the Study requested an apology from the federal government in a press conference held at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Notasulga, Alabama. During the press conference, Study survivor Herman Shaw said, “…we want to build in Tuskegee…recognizing our contributions and others from Macon County have made to this country.” The vision of Mr. Herman Shaw and that of civil rights attorney Fred Gray, encompassed the rich history of the entire community. Under this new vision would be the acknowledging of the three cultural groups- Native Americans, European Americans, and African Americans- that have contributed to the reshaping of Macon County. Its exhibits give an illuminating view across three cultures interacting in one place over the course of four centuries.
The William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, fosters reconciliation and civic renewal wherever people suffer as a result of racial discrimination or alienation, and promotes scholarly research, study and teaching on race and the impact of race and racism.