Museum Without Walls incorporates the American Civil Rights historical experience in two ways: Civil Rights programs for students and/or adults and a joint program with Mercer Island and Seattle Public Schools, the Multicultural Scholars Program.

Over fifty years ago this summer, a 43-year old African-American seamstress refused to give up her seat to a white man. Although Rosa Parks was not the first such person to protest Montgomery’s segregated bus system, she became the first to legally fight it. It was the first significant step in the modern Civil Rights movement.

Over forty years ago this summer, outraged over the killing of a demonstrator by a state trooper in Marion, Alabama, Martin Luther King agreed to lead a march in nearby Selma. As the demonstrators crossed the bridge leading out of Selma, they were ordered to disperse. Police immediately attacked the crowd of people who had bowed their heads in prayer. This event was called Bloody Sunday and opened the eyes of the White House to the injustices occurring in the South. As a result, President Johnson spearheaded the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. MWW participants ride across the south to listen to the stories of those who sat, marched, shouted, and walked their way to equality. From the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama to the Martin Luther King’s hotel room at the Lorraine Motel, students and adults are privileged to hear from those who planted the seeds of social justice.

Our on-going MWW program, the Multicultural Scholars Program, is a joint effort between the Seattle Public School District and the Mercer Island School District. Junior and sophomore students from Rainier Beach High School and Mercer Island High School meet together for four weeks of class on Saturdays prior to taking a 10-day tour of key civil rights sites in Birmingham, Montgomery, and Selma, Alabama, Jackson, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee.