Civil Rights Memorial

Standing proud across the street from the Southern Poverty Law Center, a hub for hundreds of people who continue to work for civil rights around the country and the world, the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, is a monument for 41 people who died between 1954 and 1968 fighting for equal treatment of all people.

A guard stands outside of the memorial to make sure that it is never vandalized, and can be enjoyed by thousands of visitors every year. Many more than 41 people died fighting for civil rights, but the Southern Poverty Law Center, which sponsors the memorial, chose the dates 1954 to 1968 because 1954 is the year in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in schools was unlawful, and 1968 is the year that Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

Designed and created by Maya Lin, who also designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., the Civil Rights Memorial was dedicated in 1989. Lin’s design was inspired by King’s “…we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream” line from the famous “I Have a Dream” speech that he delivered on the National Mall on August 28, 1963. The concept revolves around water having a soothing and healing effect.