U.S. Civil Rights Trail

What U.S. Civil Rights Trail does

U.S. Civil Rights Trail is a tourism marketing initiative, organized as U.S. Civil Rights Trail Marketing Alliance, LLC (founded 2017, Atlanta, GA), that aggregates and promotes more than 130 historic civil rights landmarks across 15+ states and Washington, D.C. Its core product is a mobile-responsive digital platform featuring an interactive map, a landmarks directory organized by category (courthouses, churches, museums, schools, birthplaces), and downloadable state-by-state PDF itineraries for self-guided road trips. Supporting products include an interactive Civil Rights Timeline (1951–1968), an 'Ordinary Objects' digital experience, the official companion book 'The Official U.S. Civil Rights Trail' (authored by Alabama Tourism Director Lee Sentell, with augmented-reality overlays), a podcast distributed via Simplecast featuring historians and movement witnesses, and an annual Trail Guide.

The alliance monetizes primarily through a one-time $3,500 site acceptance fee paid by newly admitted historical sites, with marketing materials, digital assets, and promotional inclusion provided in return; it does not directly charge visitors and generates indirect economic activity via affiliate/referral traffic to partner states. Site operations are managed by the Luckie marketing agency. Distribution is anchored by core strategic partnerships with 14 state tourism offices and the Washington DC Convention and Tourism Corporation, plus a GTM partnership with Travel South USA, embedding trail content into state DMO websites, visitor centers, and earned-media placements in outlets such as AFAR, Oprah Daily, the Washington Post, and Travel + Leisure. End users are individual civil rights tourists, educational/student groups, and the state/local tourism organizations that co-promote destinations; the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport 'Civil Rights Trail Market' concept won an Airports Council International award in 2023.

Name

U.S. Civil Rights Trail

Legal name

U.S. Civil Rights Trail Marketing Alliance, LLC

Website

https://civilrightstrail.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The U.S. Civil Rights Trail Marketing Alliance, LLC operates a digital tourism platform and curated itinerary network across 130+ civil rights landmarks in 15+ U.S. states, serving travelers, educational groups, and partner state tourism offices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Heritage Tourism

NAICS

Historical Sites (71212), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Political, Social History & Civic Tours (THAJAAAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Civil Liberties & Constitutional Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAA), Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Organizations (BPAGAFAB)

Keywords

• Civil rights tourism
• Heritage tourism
• Historical travel itineraries
• Educational tourism
• Landmark digital mapping

Headquarters

HQ city

Columbia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Site Membership Fees: New civil rights sites pay a one-time $3,500 fee to join the official U.S. Civil Rights Trail, covering marketing materials, digital assets, and inclusion in trail promotional materials.
2. Tourism Economic Impact: The trail drives visitor traffic to partner states and attractions, generating economic benefit through tourism without direct revenue collection from visitors.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The U.S. Civil Rights Trail is a curated collection of over 130 historic churches, courthouses, schools, museums, and landmarks across 15+ states and Washington D.C. that played pivotal roles in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. It is delivered through a digital tourism platform featuring an interactive map, downloadable state itineraries, a podcast, an augmented-reality companion book, and an annual Trail Guide. New sites pay a one-time $3,500 acceptance fee to join the official trail.

Product overview

The U.S. Civil Rights Trail is a comprehensive digital and physical tourism platform centered on a collection of over 130 historic churches, courthouses, schools, museums, and other landmarks across 15 states and Washington D.C. that played pivotal roles in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The core product is the U.S. Civil Rights Trail Website, which serves as the primary digital hub featuring an Interactive Map for trip planning, a Landmarks Directory organized by category and state, and downloadable State Itineraries for self-guided road trips. Supporting the digital platform are complementary offerings including The Official U.S. Civil Rights Trail Book (a companion publication with over 120 destinations), the U.S. Civil Rights Trail Podcast (featuring interviews with movement participants and historians), an interactive Civil Rights Timeline spanning 1951-1968, an Ordinary Objects Experience exploring symbolic artifacts, and the annual 2026 Civil Rights Trail Guide. The platform also connects to affiliated attractions like the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, National Museum of African American Music, 16th Street Baptist Church, Edmund Pettus Bridge, Little Rock Central High School, and Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Park.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Interactive Map
• State Itineraries
• U.S. Civil Rights Trail Podcast
• The Official U.S. Civil Rights Trail Book
• Landmarks Directory
• 2026 Civil Rights Trail Guide

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 130 civil rights landmarks featured across 15+ states and DC
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Alabama Tourism (Sweet Home Alabama)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlabama is home to numerous trail sites including Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, 16th Street Baptist Church, and the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. State tourism office provides marketing support and visitor resources.
• Arkansas TourismcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArkansas features sites like Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site and the Clinton Presidential Center on the trail.
• Washington DC Convention and Tourism CorporationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDC tourism board promotes trail sites including the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and Supreme Court Building.
• Explore GeorgiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGeorgia features major trail destinations including Ebenezer Baptist Church, The King Center, and Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta.
• Visit FloridacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFlorida includes sites like the Harry T. & Harriette V. Moore Memorial Park & Museum and Jackie Robinson Training Complex.
• Kansas TourismcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKansas features Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, the landmark case that ended school segregation.
• Kentucky TourismcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKentucky includes sites like the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville and the Alice Allison Dunnigan Statue.
• Louisiana TravelcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLouisiana features the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, Louisiana State Capitol, and F.W. Woolworth's Building sites.
• Visit MississippicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMississippi includes the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, Medgar Evers Home Museum, and Emmett Till historic sites.
• Visit MissouricoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMissouri includes the Old Courthouse National Historic Site in St. Louis where Dred Scott sued for freedom.
• Visit North CarolinacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNorth Carolina features F.W. Woolworth's Building and International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro.
• Discover South CarolinacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSouth Carolina includes Mother Emanuel AME Church, Springfield Baptist Church, and Historic Liberty Hill AME Church.
• Tennessee Tourism (Visit Music City)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTennessee features National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, National Museum of African American Music, and Stax Museum.
• Virginia Tourism (Virginia.org)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVirginia includes the Caroline County Historic Courthouse Campus (Loving v. Virginia site), Robert Russa Moton High School, and Danville Museum.
• Travel South USAminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMulti-state regional tourism partnership promoting Southern destinations including civil rights trail sites.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Atlas Obscura: Digital-first discovery platform for unusual and historically significant places worldwide; competes for the same heritage-tourism trip-planning audience and offers overlapping civil rights and cultural site content.
• Birmingham Civil Rights Institute: Major civil rights museum and educational institution in Birmingham, Alabama; functions both as a featured trail site and a comparable destination with its own educational programming and visitor traffic.
• National Civil Rights Museum: Located at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, this is the most-visited civil rights museum in the U.S. and operates as both a key trail site and a competing brand for civil rights heritage tourism.
• Roadtrippers: Road-trip planning platform with curated routes, maps, and points of interest; directly comparable to the Civil Rights Trail's interactive map and itinerary functionality for themed self-guided tours.
• Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture: A flagship institution focused on African American history; competes for the same educational tourist audience and complements the Civil Rights Trail as a primary anchor site in Washington DC.

Regional players

• Visit Mississippi / Mississippi Civil Rights Museum: State-level tourism authority operating a major trail site (Mississippi Civil Rights Museum); shares the same tourism-promotion mission and audience at the state level.
• Travel South USA: Multi-state regional tourism promotion partnership covering Southern U.S. destinations; an existing minor partner of the Civil Rights Trail and a comparable regional tourism-marketing entity.

Broad incumbents

• National Trust for Historic Preservation: National nonprofit focused on preserving historically significant sites; shares the heritage preservation mission and audience with the Civil Rights Trail, and overlaps on several partner sites.
• National Park Service: Operates federally managed historic sites (including several on the Civil Rights Trail such as Brown v. Board of Education NHS, Little Rock Central High School NHS, and Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge) and is the dominant institutional operator of U.S. historical heritage tourism.

Emerging players

• History.com / A&E Networks: Major media platform publishing documentary and editorial content on U.S. history including the Civil Rights Movement; competes for audience attention and serves as a complementary channel for thematic content distribution.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@CivilRightsTrail
• Facebookfacebook.com/CivilRightsTrail
• Instagraminstagram.com/USCivilRightsTrail

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about U.S. Civil Rights Trail