For three weeks, participants travel throughout the state visiting historic sites and cultural institutions, including the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Historic Bethel Baptist Church, Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Tuskegee University, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Sloss Furnaces, and the state archives, where they conduct primary research. Experts provide illuminating context that conveys the historical significance of Alabama’s Civil Rights history for our nation and world, while movement “foot soldiers” offer inspiring first-hand accounts of courage under fire. For example, participants retrace the Selma March for the Right to Vote with Joanne Bland, co-founder of the National Voting Rights Museum, who describes what it was like to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge as a young girl with state troopers bearing down on protestors. “The foot soldiers gave us an emotional look into their struggle like no book or field experience could have,” wrote one participant.

Throughout the workshop, participants work in groups to create interactive curricula aligned with national and state standards to take back to their classrooms. In a program evaluation survey, participants outlined plans for sharing the experience and concrete resources with their students and peers. “The reality is that the next generation won’t have the chance to hear directly from the movement participants,” wrote another participant. “I will be bringing their words and experiences into my classroom.” With over 900 alumni, Stony the Road We Trod has enhanced thousands of students’ understanding of the Civil Rights Movement through the transformative educational experience it offers teachers from across the country.