For the second year in a row, Haverford students, faculty, and staff journeyed through the American South during spring break as part of the College’s annual civil rights trip. The journey led them through many key sites of the U.S. civil rights movement, from Charleston, South Carolina’s slave auction sites and plantations, to the historic streets of Montgomery, Alabama. The weeklong experience, organized by the College’s Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Access division, provided Haverford’s travelers with a deeper understanding of the ongoing fight for racial justice.
The group visited pivotal landmarks in the struggle for civil rights, including Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge, where activists marched for voting rights in 1965; the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum, which traces the history of racial injustice from slavery to mass incarceration; and the 16th Street Baptist Church, where a terrorist bombing in 1963 claimed the lives of four young girls.
Patrick Montero, Haverford’s photographer, helped facilitate the excursion and its group discussions while also capturing moments of connection, learning, and reflection through his lens. The selection of images below creates a visual narrative of Fords reckoning with a painful and complicated history.
