Where: Montgomery, Alabama
When: year-round
If you like: history
Why you should go: Nestled between a bucolic bend of the Alabama River and active railroad tracks built by enslaved Black people in the nineteenth century, Montgomery’s Freedom Monument Sculpture Park opened last year as the third stop in what is known as the Legacy Sites. Each is powerful on its own; taken together, they represent arguably the nation’s most immersive and affecting reckoning with its racist history. One $5 ticket gets you admission to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, a visually arresting tribute to the 4,400-plus victims of racial terror lynchings; the Legacy Museum, which transformed the site of a former cotton warehouse into a comprehensive study of slavery in America; and the sculpture park, which pairs historical relics like chains and a whipping post with soaring modern art. “Something as challenging as the history of slavery needs to be balanced by something uplifting,” says Bryan Stevenson, executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), the legal advocacy and human rights nonprofit that operates the sites.
Stevenson personally designed the sculpture park’s centerpiece: the National Monument to Freedom, which honors the five million emancipated Black people who adopted surnames in the census of 1870. Those names—some 122,000 of them—are inscribed on the monument, offering a Vietnam Wall–like space for reflection and connection. “Even though I was there every day when we were building it, when I saw my name and was able to touch it, it just moved me to tears,” Stevenson says. “It was such a deeply personal moment.”
G&G tip: Visiting all three Legacy Sites is “a full-day experience,” Stevenson says. He recommends starting at the Legacy Museum, eating lunch at the on-site soul-food spot Pannie-George’s, and taking the free shuttle to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. From there you can take another shuttle to a boat launch (both of which are free), which will allow you to approach the sculpture park as many enslaved people arrived in Montgomery—by river. (During summer, he suggests saving the air-conditioned museum for the afternoon.) And if you’re planning a trip in the latter half of 2025, keep an eye out for the opening of the EJI’s Elevation Convening Center and Hotel.
