Celebrate Black History Month with educational tours

As February is Black History Month, teachers may want to educate their students about the hardships and triumphs of African Americans in the U.S. One of the best ways for students to learn about these topics outside of school is on educational tours of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee.

This educational travel destination is not only significant for its commitment to inspiring participation in civil and human rights efforts around the world, but for its location as well. The museum is housed inside the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

On class trips to the museum, students can learn more about King, as well as the civil rights movement that made him an icon. The Freedom Award wall is among the exhibits located at the institution, and provides information on recipients of this honor.

Museum exhibits can not only be found inside the Lorraine Motel, but in historic buildings around the assassination site. Among them is the Young and Morrow Building, where James Earl Ray confessed to shooting King, and Canipe’s Amusement Store, where the murder weapon was recovered.