# 9 Places to Walk in the Footsteps of Martin Luther King Jr. > Discover 9 places from Atlanta to India tied to Martin Luther King Jr. Find out where to connect with the legacy of a great champion of justice. - URL: https://langandtrip.com.ua/en/article/9-mest-hde-mozhno-proity-po-stopam-martyna-liutera-kynhamladsheho/ - Language: en - Published: 2024-12-23 - Categories: Culture, Historic Sites, Museums, Tours, USA, Food & Drinks --- Martin Luther King Jr. was born and raised in the American South, but his dream of racial equality and social justice reached far beyond his own region, spreading across the country and around the world. And it wasn't only his vision that circled the globe: the man himself traveled far and wide. You can honor his memory on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Monday, January 15), or at any other time of year, by following in his footsteps, whether figuratively or literally. From his home turf in the heart of the South to unexpected destinations far beyond America's shores, here are the places that shaped and inspired the man: ## Atlanta, Georgia ![](/storage/image/prev/september-article-image-80-1-2024.jpg) Georgia's lively capital is King's birthplace and his final resting place. As such, it arguably holds the strongest claim to his legacy and to the landmarks connected with MLK. Many of them are clustered together in the MLK Jr. National Historical Park in the Sweet Auburn district of downtown Atlanta, including the graves of MLK and Coretta Scott King. Some of the main sites include: • Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church: This is where MLK was baptized and where he served as co-pastor alongside his father starting in 1960. It has been beautifully restored inside and out to look the way it did in the 1960s, and it is a perfect place for prayer and quiet reflection. 407 Auburn Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA 30312. • MLK Birth Home: You can tour the two-story house where MLK grew up, back when Sweet Auburn was the epicenter of African American life in Atlanta. 501 Auburn Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30312. • The King Center: Coretta Scott King founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in 1968. Nearly 1 million people visited each year before the pandemic to learn more about the Kings' public and private lives and to pay their respects at the couple's graves, beside the reflecting pool and the eternal flame. 449 Auburn Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA 30312. Just a few miles away, the prestigious Morehouse College is King's alma mater. (In fact, MLK Jr. was one of many men in the King family to study there.) The campus grounds are a wonderful place to stroll, walking the paths a young student once walked. 830 Westview Dr. SW, Atlanta, GA 30314. ## Memphis, Tennessee For a city its size, Memphis has had an outsized influence on the nation's musical, cultural, and political history. The United States was in deep turmoil and scarred by violence when King arrived in Memphis in March 1968 to support striking sanitation workers. King and his group stayed at the Lorraine Motel, which was a safe and welcoming place for Black travelers at the time. On April 4, King was standing on the balcony of room 306 when he was shot. Today, the Lorraine is home to the National Civil Rights Museum, where you can learn about the sweeping history of civil rights and also see the room where the man who changed America spent the final hours of his life. On the Monday holiday, the museum hosts an all-day celebration that will include children's activities and live entertainment, as well as a food drive. Admission to the museum on Monday will be free from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. A new exhibition, "Healed by Tar," featuring photographs by Cornell Watson, opens on Monday. 450 Mulberry St., Memphis, TN 38103. If you'd also like to eat where King often broke bread, visit the soul food restaurant The Four Way. Open since 1946, it serves Southern favorites like fried chicken, turnip greens, and lemon meringue pie (said to have been MLK's favorite dessert). 998 Mississippi Blvd., Memphis, TN 38126. ## Montgomery, Alabama It's hard to overstate the impact of the time King spent in Alabama's segregated capital in the mid-1950s. His coordination of a long bus boycott, after Rosa Parks famously refused to give up her seat, propelled him onto the national and international stage. Today, Montgomery is full of must-see civil rights landmarks, including: • The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, an open-air site that explores the history of lynching, Jim Crow laws, and much more. 417 Caroline St, Montgomery, AL 36104. • The Legacy Museum, located about 1 mile from the memorial. It sits on a site where Black people were once forced to labor in bondage. 400 N. Court St, Montgomery, AL 36104. Both were founded by the Equal Justice Initiative and will be open on the Monday of MLK Day with free admission. • The Rosa Parks Museum at Troy University, dedicated to the legacy of Parks and the lessons of the Montgomery bus boycott. 252 Montgomery St, Montgomery, AL 36104. • Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church: This church was founded in 1877 on a former slave trader's pen and was originally called the Second Colored Baptist Church. King served as its pastor from 1954 to 1960. It was from here that he planned the bus boycott and other efforts to dismantle segregation. Tours of the church are by appointment; you can also attend Sunday morning worship. 454 Dexter Ave, Montgomery, AL 36104. • The Dexter Parsonage Museum: This is the clapboard house where King lived, and which was bombed several times during the civil rights struggle. Open on Fridays and Saturdays; other times by appointment. 309 S Jackson St, Montgomery, AL 36104. • Enjoy good food and history at Brenda's Bar-Be-Que. During the Montgomery bus boycott, organizers gathered at the restaurant, and Black people were taught to read and write so they could pass literacy tests and vote. Local favorites on the menu include the ribs and the pig ear sandwich. 1457 Mobile Road, Montgomery, AL 36108. ## Birmingham, Alabama ![](/storage/image/prev/september-article-image-80-2-2024.jpg) An industrial hub of the South and a stronghold of resistance to integration in the mid-20th century, Birmingham also loomed large in King's life. It was from Alabama's biggest city that he wrote his famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail" in 1963, in which he passionately defended nonviolent civil disobedience before skeptical white clergymen who questioned his tactics and what they saw as his impatience with the pace of change. You can see the actual door from his jail cell at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, along with important documents and oral histories of the civil rights movement. 520 16th St N, Birmingham, AL 35203; +1 205 328 9696 Kelly Ingram Park, which was a gathering place for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and other groups in the civil rights movement, features sculptures depicting the struggle. 5th Avenue N & 16th Street. ## Washington, D.C. ![](/storage/image/prev/september-article-image-80-3-2024.jpg) It now seems inevitable that King's march for justice would carry him beyond the Deep South to the nation's capital. Here are some of the places you can visit: • The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial: The first memorial on the National Mall to honor an African American figure, it opened to the public in 2011 and features a powerful 30-foot statue of King emerging from the boulders. You can also read inspiring quotes carved into the grounds. 1850 West Basin Drive SW, Washington, DC 20024 (nearest Metro station is Smithsonian) • The Lincoln Memorial: Fittingly, it was from the steps of this beloved memorial that King delivered his most famous speech, "I Have a Dream." Sit on the steps, close your eyes, and simply picture the atmosphere on August 28, 1963, when more than a quarter of a million people filled the National Mall to hear what became one of the most important speeches in U.S. history. 2 Lincoln Memorial Cir NW, Washington, DC 20037 • The National Museum of African American History and Culture: The museum became a magnificent addition to the capital's many great institutions when it opened in 2016. It holds artifacts directly connected to King, along with a broad look at the contributions and trials of Black Americans. 1400 Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC 20560 ## Boston, Massachusetts ![](/storage/image/prev/september-article-image-80-4-2024.jpg) While several cities in the South lay claim to a piece of King's legacy, some may be surprised that Boston, that New England bastion, was also a key place in shaping his life. Before returning to the South, King studied at Boston University in the early 1950s. Just as you can walk in the footsteps of the student at Morehouse in Atlanta, you can do the same for the graduate student King at BU. 771 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02215. You can stroll the grounds of the striking Massachusetts State House, where King addressed a joint session of the legislature in April 1965. 24 Beacon St, Boston, MA 02133 You can also see a 22-foot memorial called "The Embrace" in Boston Common park, which commemorates MLK and Coretta Scott King. This is the very city where they met and where they began their married life. ## Bimini, Bahamas ![](/storage/image/prev/september-article-image-80-5-2024.jpg) Combine a wonderful island getaway with MLK history on Bimini, the westernmost outpost of the Bahamas, just 50 miles off the coast of Florida. King came here to relax and write his speeches, including notes for the address he gave when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, which he delivered in Oslo, Norway, in 1964. As Lilit Marcus reported in a 2018 article, "the island has two busts of King, one in front of the Straw Market in the center of Alice Town and one among the very mangroves where King spent so many peaceful days." ## Ghana ![](/storage/image/prev/september-article-image-80-6-2024.jpg) The struggle for civil rights in the United States and the end of colonialism in Africa unfolded at the same time, and it was only natural that the movements would converge. In 1957, the Kings traveled to Ghana in West Africa to attend the ceremony marking its independence from Britain, according to the King Encyclopedia at Stanford University. In the capital, Accra, he met, among others, then Vice President Richard Nixon. His first trip abroad, Ghana had a profound effect on King. After returning to the United States, he said: "Ghana has something to say to us. It says to us, first, that the oppressor never voluntarily gives freedom to the oppressed. You have to work for it." Before the pandemic, Ghana was becoming a major tourist destination not only in West Africa but across the entire continent. While many people come for the beaches, wildlife, and food, there are also important historical sites here. Among them is Cape Coast Castle, which was a hub of the transatlantic slave trade. A visit there is a somber reminder of centuries of oppression and its consequences, from MLK's time to the present day. Victoria Road, Cape Coast, Ghana, +233 57 710 1707 ## India ![](/storage/image/prev/september-article-image-80-7-2024.jpg) Mahatma Gandhi's crusade of nonviolent resistance to free India from British rule had a deep influence on King. In February and March 1959, King set off on a five-week tour of India to learn more about the movement that had inspired him. In Delhi, he met, among others, Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. He spoke with students at the University of Delhi. Eventually he made his way to Calcutta (now called Kolkata), India's intellectual center. Martin Luther King Sarani, a street named in his honor in the heart of the city, is not far from the Victoria Memorial. In Bombay (now called Mumbai), King visited Mani Bhavan, where Gandhi worked and lived for 17 years. Today it is a museum where you can see artifacts from Gandhi's life. 19, Laburnum Road, Gamdevi, Mumbai-400 007, India. ## Online If you simply can't visit any of these places in person this year, you can trace King's journeys online through Stanford University's extensive King Institute. It's a deep dive into his life, yet easy to navigate.