Words by Ankit Bandyopadhyay. Photos by Dawson Martin
A Civil Rights Trail companion book was unveiled at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute on Tuesday to help people of all ages understand the complex history surrounding civil rights.
The 128-page “Official United States Civil Rights Trail” companion book, written by the Alabama Tourism Director Lee Sentell, contains more than 200 photographs chronicling the civil rights journey. Additionally, Sentell and his team added an augmented reality experience for a deeper interactive experience with the various destinations mentioned in the book.
“We want to encourage people to take their journey along the Civil Rights Trail,” Sentell said.
The book, alongside the innovative augmented reality technology, acts as a companion guide for tourists as they travel the more than 120 landmarks located across 14 Southern states. Locations in Birmingham, Montgomery, and Selma are predominantly featured in the book.
Among those in attendance was civil rights leader Charles Avery, Jr., a participant in the Birmingham Children’s Crusade of 1963.
Avery took the stage to urge younger generations to learn from their past and use that knowledge to help others.
“We’re still talking about a right to vote at this age,” Avery said to a group of high school students in the audience. “You must pick up the torch.”
The U.S. Civil Rights Trail was launched in 2018 and has since garnered national attention. The trail was coordinated along with 14 neighboring state tourism agencies to showcase a collection of churches, schools, and other destinations that played important roles in the advancement of civil rights.
