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.