Core 650: Race Across America
Led by Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Jason Wollschleger
May 23-June 2, 2025
An Invitation From Jason Wollschleger
Join me and your fellow Whitworth alumni, parents and friends in learning about racial inequity and the fight for civil rights in the American South. Together, we will visit many of the key historical sites that Whitworth students see in Charleston, Birmingham, Montgomery and New Orleans as part of our Jan Term "Race Across America" class (this class was featured in The Seattle Times). Highlights will include walking in the footsteps of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and Rosa Parks; touring Bryan Stevenson's Equal Justice Initiative's Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice; sitting in 16th Street Baptist Church and walking in Kelly Ingram Park; experiencing Gullah Geechee culture and cuisine; and visiting the Freedom Rides Museum in the very bus stop where white supremacists attacked the Freedom Riders. Along with getting in your 10,000 steps, most days will include time as a group to process our experiences and lay the groundwork for the next day. Along the way, we will also enjoy some of the South’s culinary gems.
Tour Itinerary (Details Subject to Change)
Friday, May 23, Departure
We will make our way together from Washington state to Charleston, S.C. Charleston is a port city of immense historical importance. A key site in the Revolutionary and Civil wars, this harbor was also a primary port of entry for enslaved Africans. It is estimated that 40 percent of all enslaved Africans who entered the U.S. through the Atlantic slave trade came through Charleston. The region is also home to a remarkable group of descendants of enslaved Africans, the Gullah Geechee, known for their unique creole language and culture.
Saturday, May 24, Charleston, S.C.
On our first full day, we will visit Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant. This is often visited by school groups, tourists and families and is a common wedding location that is known for its stunning oak-lined drive. We start here to gain a clear sense of the public narrative about race and the institution of slavery that is commonly told, both locally and across the U.S.
Later in the day, we will embark on a walking tour on the lost history of Black Charleston. After the tour we will stop in to visit the Old Slave Mart Museum in downtown Charleston. A historic antebellum slave auction site, the Old Slave Mart is one of the first museums dedicated to telling the story of enslaved Africans.
Charleston is an epicenter of Southern cuisine, and our day will end with our first group dinner at one of Charleston's many well-known restaurants.
Sunday, May 25, Charleston, S.C.
We'll begin the day with an optional visit to Mother Emmanuel AME church for Sunday worship. Long recognized locally for its central role in the Black community, Mother Emmanuel became the center of national attention in 2015 when nine of its members died in a racially motived, mass shooting. You may choose to worship somewhere else – Charleston is known as the Holy City for its plethora of amazing churches – or you may opt to sleep in or enjoy one of the many good breakfast spots in town.
After service, we will regroup and walk to the new (opened January 2023) International African American Museum on the Charleston harbor. We will start with a lunch from the museum kitchen, which is run by well-known Gullah Geechee chef BJ Dennis. Following lunch, we will spend the afternoon touring the museum. Then you will have the evening off to dine where you please and to explore the city.
Monday, May 26, Birmingham, Ala. (Memorial Day)
On Monday, we will travel by coach from Charleston to Birmingham, Ala. Upon our arrival, we will visit the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth's Historic Bethel Baptist Church and parsonage. Shuttleworth was at the very center of civil rights organizing in Birmingham, and as a result, this site was bombed a total of three times by white supremacists. We will tour the grounds and neighborhood and see the spot where KKK members planted dynamite outside Shuttleworth's bedroom. Afterward, we will make our way to a group dinner in this rising culinary city that has been at the heart of the farm-to-table movement, and then settle into our hotel.
Tuesday, May 27, Birmingham, Ala.
We will spend Tuesday at the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument. We will begin with a visit to the 16th Street Baptist Church. An important center for civil rights organizing, including the famous 1963 Children's Crusade, the church was also the site of white supremacist violence: It was bombed by the KKK in September 1963, resulting in the deaths of four little girls.
Following the visit to the church, we will cross the street to tour the exhibits in the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and then stroll through Kelly Ingram Park and visit the A.G. Gaston Motel, both key sites in the fight for civil rights. The motel hosted national civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King Jr., and the park was the setting for the infamous use of fire hoses and police dogs by Bull Connor on the children participating in the Children's Crusade.
In the evening we will travel by coach to nearby Montgomery, Ala.
Wednesday, May 28, Montgomery, Ala.
Montgomery, like Birmingham, is a crucial site in the struggle for civil rights; it is also the current home of both the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), two key organizations known for their commitment to equal rights. Here we will visit key historical sites and museums dedicated to the events that happened there. We will visit the place where Rosa Parks was arrested and then the Rosa Parks Museum. From there we will walk up the street to the Freedom Rides Museum, a small but impactful museum located in the actual bus station where the Freedom Riders were met by a mob of white supremacists. The day will end with a group dinner.
Thursday, May 29, Montgomery, Ala.
This will probably be the most emotionally challenging day of the trip. We will walk to the EJI Legacy Museum, a state-of-the-art museum that seeks to tell the story of the journey from enslavement to mass incarceration. This is a powerful museum in both its message and medium. We will eat lunch at the on-site restaurant, Pannie-George's Kitchen, which is said to be the favorite restaurant of EJI founder Bryan Stevenson.
After lunch, we will catch a shuttle to EJI's National Memorial for Peace and Justice, a profound and stunning memorial to the victims of racially motivated lynching in the U.S. Following our self-guided tour, we will gather in the EJI Peace and Justice Memorial Center to hear from a member of the EJI staff.
Friday, May 30 Travel to New Orleans, La.
Our trip by coach to New Orleans will provide us with an opportunity to reflect on what we've experienced so far.
Saturday, May 31, New Orleans, La.
Crescent City. The Big Easy. NOLA. A city with a unique history and vibrant culture that yet perfectly illustrates the power and pervasiveness of racial inequalities. In the last full day of course content we will have two very different experiences. We will take a tour of the city focused on Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it wrought, especially on the Black community. We will also visit the Whitney Plantation on the west bank of the Mississippi River. The Whitney Plantation was a historical plantation purchased by a civil rights attorney to be turned into a museum dedicated to telling the true story of chattel slavery. This powerful tour will provide an interesting counterpoint to our first group experience on a plantation in Charleston.
We will end the day in a final group dinner at one of New Orleans' many excellent restaurants.
Sunday, June 1, New Orleans, La.
This will be your day to do with as you please. There will be some optional activities. Possibilities include a "Singing is Praying" Sunday Walking Tour with a local guide, a visit to the New Orleans African American Museum or a trip to Studio Be, a contemporary art studio with a focus on racial justice. There are other great options as well, such as the Jazz Museum, the World War II museum or an outing to the French Quarter.
Monday, June 2, Return
We will travel back together to Washington state with new perspectives on our history and contemporary society and hopefully with an increased motivation to make positive change in our world.
Accommodations
In each city we will stay at a hotel similar to a Courtyard by Marriott or Hampton Inn.
Program Details
Cost of this educational program, including roundtrip airfare from Seattle, is $5,113 per person. Price includes tours led by Professor Wollschleger, pre-trip reading materials, pre-trip group video calls, all transportation (air, coach, transfers), lodging (assumes double occupancy), tours, tickets, departure taxes and most meals. Land rate (for those intending a different departure/return date or home airport other than Seattle or Spokane) is $4,243. (Please note: If you choose to arrange your own air travel and you have difficulties, Whitworth will not be able to assist you. Also, if your flights do not align with our transfers from/to airports, you will be responsible for your own transportation between airports and hotels.) Single-occupancy (including air) rate is $6,656. Single-occupancy (land only) is $5,786. All costs subject to change based on exact fees at time of confirmation. Optional activities are not included in the cost. Academic credit is available upon request and is subject to additional costs.
Deposit
A $1,500 per-person deposit (refundable before Dec. 1, 2024) paid by check will hold your spot. Payment in full is due by Feb. 3, 2025. We regret that we cannot accept credit cards for tours. Space is limited, so please send your deposit ASAP.
Send your reservation deposit check to:
Core 650: Race Across America 2025
Office of Institutional Advancement
Whitworth University
300 W. Hawthorne Road
Spokane, WA 99251
Questions?
Please contact Dale Hammond at 509.777.3730 or dhammond@whitworth.edu.