Walk in the footsteps of Martin Luther King Jr. this MLK Day

Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most celebrated and respected civil rights activists in history. A visionary leader, he championed equality for all and became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, donating the prize money to advance the civil rights movement. His campaigns and speeches reshaped perspectives and paved the way for progress, making his legacy timeless. 

MLK Day, celebrated on January 20, 2025, is an opportunity to reflect on his impact and visit the sites that commemorate his life and work. With Hertz, you can seamlessly travel between these important landmarks and explore the rich history of the civil rights movement.

Explore Iconic Landmarks of the Civil Rights Movement

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park – Atlanta, GA

Begin your journey where Martin Luther King Jr. started his. The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Park covers 35 acres in Atlanta, Georgia, over multiple sites, and makes the ideal starting point for a journey of understanding into the life and work of this visionary. Hertz offers convenient car rentals in Atlanta, making it straightforward for you to begin your adventure here.

The main park contains the boyhood home of MLK and the church where both he and Martin Luther King Sr. preached as ministers. Explore the roots of MLK and learn more about what it must have been like growing up as a black man in a time of segregation at this must-visit preservation area.

The King Center – Atlanta, GA

Just a quick minute’s drive up the road in your rental car, you’ll find The King Center – a place for learning and reflection featuring Freedom Hall exhibits. An ideal pairing with a visit to the MLK National Historic Park, and the site of the crypt where Martin Luther King Jr., and his wife and fellow civil rights activist Coretta Scott King, are buried. Coretta Scott King is further remembered at the Peace and Meditation Garden named for her, where you can have your own words amplified by speaking into the handcrafted microphone sculpture – a reminder of the power of words and a time when many voices were being quashed and ignored. With a Hertz rental car, you can explore multiple sites in Atlanta, the birthplace of MLK, at your own pace.

National Civil Rights Museum – Memphis, TN

The next stop on the list of important locations requires a bit of a road trip – it should take around six hours to reach the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis when you rent a car from Atlanta. This gives you plenty of time to reflect on what you’ve already seen and done, and on the life and work of one of the most influential people in modern history.

The National Civil Rights Museum was built around the Lorraine Motel, famously the place where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. As a proud, vocal and publicly visible leader of the civil rights movement and spokesperson for equality for all, King met much resistance during his life. His passionate belief in disrupting the status quo to grant equal rights provoked violent reactions in many, culminating in a fatal shooting in April 1968. James Earl Ray was arrested in June of the same year and convicted of the shooting after pleading guilty, sentenced to the Tennessee State Penitentiary for 99 years. Despite later appealing his own guilty plea, Ray died in prison in 1998.

This is a must-visit location for anyone wanting a deeper understanding of the challenges and obstacles of the civil rights movement, and the enduring legacy of MLK that has changed the lives of millions.

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center – Cincinnati, OH

After a stopover in Memphis, it’s time to hit the road again – The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is in Cincinnati, which is just over seven hours away by car. A Hertz rental ensures that even long-distance journeys are comfortable and convenient, with one-way rental available if you don’t fancy the drive back.

The Underground Railroad played an integral role in the resistance to slavery, assisting in the flight and escape of thousands of enslaved African Americans, most prominently between around 1820 and 1860. While this was before the time of Martin Luther King Jr., it formed part of one of the first major fights for freedom for black people in America and is therefore part of the same mission. The educational exhibits here will give you a deeper understanding of the need King felt, to fight for freedoms previously unheard of among his own people in America.

A mixture of permanent and traveling exhibits tell the stories of some of the other leading figures in the civil rights movement throughout time, including Harriet Tubman, William Henry Johnson, and Frederick Douglass, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Plus, get free admission if you visit on MLK Day, Juneteenth or the third or fifth Sunday of any month.

Take an American Civil Rights Road Trip

If this piques your interest and you want to travel further to learn more about the civil rights movement, you can hop in your Hertz rental car and plan a civil rights road trip. With the freedom and flexibility to travel wherever and whenever you like, you can plan other routes that take in more iconic destinations such as Montgomery, Birmingham and Selma at your own pace, creating a meaningful journey that you will remember forever.

Montgomery, Alabama, is the place where Martin Luther King Jr. first began his meteoric rise as one of the leaders of the civil rights movement, and where Rosa Parks famously refused to give up her seat on the bus. Just a 90-minute drive north takes you to Birmingham, home of the civil disorder riot of 1963, provoked by bombings of African American leaders. Or under an hour’s drive west of Montgomery, visit Selma, where MLK and followers began the march of 1965 in protest against the blocking of black Americans’ rights to vote by the Jim Crow laws.

All these destinations and more can be at your fingertips when you rent a car from Hertz. Give yourself the freedom to explore some of the greatest moments in history with a civil rights road trip in a Hertz rental car.

Why Remembering MLK Matters 

Remembering and celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. is vital. Without this man, and others like him, the lives of millions of people could look very different from the way they do today. And yet the struggle is ongoing – while progress has been made, we cannot forget, for as long as racism and inequality still exist. Walking in the footsteps of MLK can have a profound effect, especially on young people who may otherwise not understand what this man achieved, and did not achieve, within his lifetime and beyond. 

A Martin Luther King Jr. road trip on MLK Day can help educate future generations and remind the current adult generation of the ongoing battles, and the groups and individuals that still need people to speak up and fight for them.