About
At Montgomery Square, you can journey through the decade that changed the world—in the very place where history happened.
Follow in the footsteps of the heroes of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and walk down the same street where voting rights protesters marched into the state capital from Selma.
Open 9 AM - 6 PM | Free admission
Why Montgomery?
At the start of the Civil War, 400,000 enslaved Black people lived in Alabama, concentrated in Montgomery and its surrounding counties. Enslaved Black people comprised two-thirds of Montgomery County’s population in 1860.
After the war, emancipation could have created opportunities and growth for everyone in the region. But instead the collapse of Reconstruction enabled those who opposed racial equality to reclaim power and impose racial hierarchy, segregation, and economic exploitation of freed Black people.
The racial caste system in Alabama was enforced through peonage, convict leasing, lynching, and violence, and was codified in 1901 when a state constitution was adopted with the stated purpose of "preserving white supremacy."
Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Black people in Montgomery were subjected to a violent system of racial segregation—frequently abused, beaten, imprisoned, lynched, or killed. Black residents who relied on public transportation could not avoid daily humiliation on the city’s buses.
Here in Montgomery, the Bus Boycott launched a decade of activism that dismantled Jim Crow segregation and guaranteed voting rights for all Americans.
The activism of people in this community following the arrest of Rosa Parks shocked the world. Fifty thousand Black people boycotted buses for more than a year in an unprecedented act of organized resistance that succeeded in ending degradation and abuse on buses.
The courage and commitment of Black people in Montgomery inspired a movement that spread across the country.
Montgomery Square stands on the very street where, a decade later, thousands of people marched for voting rights to the state capitol—and a new era in America was born.
The passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and the end of codified racial segregation that had persisted for over a century lifted this nation closer to its promise of liberty and justice for all.
We are the heirs of the powerful movement that strengthened this country.
For more than three decades, EJI’s work has been fueled by the knowledge that, here in Montgomery, we walk in the footsteps of heroes who suffered and sacrificed in the struggle for justice in this community.
We honor those who committed their lives to racial equality during the Decade That Changed the World. We celebrate those who carry on that struggle today. The battle is not over and more work remains.
We hope you will join us at Montgomery Square. It’s our newest addition to the Legacy Sites experience—three sites in downtown Montgomery that invite visitors to reckon with our history of racial injustice in the very places where that history was lived.
About the Legacy Sites
The Legacy Museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and Freedom Monument Sculpture Park use cutting-edge technology, world-class art, and first-person historical accounts to create a powerful opportunity to explore and engage with our history of racial injustice and its legacy.
About EJI
The Equal Justice Initiative is a nonprofit law office founded by Bryan Stevenson in 1989. We represent clients sentenced to death and condemned to die in prison, challenge inhumane conditions of confinement, and work to expose racial bias in the criminal legal system. Seeing firsthand how excessive punishment, racial discrimination, and inequality are deeply rooted in America’s history of racial injustice inspired us to create the Legacy Sites. By offering these unique spaces for people to gather, learn, and reflect on our history and its legacy, we hope to foster a new era of truth and justice in America.
