North Carolina

North Carolina pioneered many firsts for the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. Raleigh was the birthplace of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee – one of the most significant civil rights activist organizations – and Estey Hall, the first building constructed in the U.S. for the higher education of African American women. Raleigh also developed the first public park dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. Greensboro is most widely recognized for the four Black students from Agricultural & Technical College of North Carolina (now North Carolina A&T State University) who challenged segregationists and set the standard for sit-in movements throughout the state and nation. By experiencing the sites and museums that commemorate these events, visitors will gain a broader understanding of the early stages of the Civil Rights Movement.