NC Civil Rights Trail

For generations, people in North Carolina have used spaces and places to organize, strategize and protest to advance the civil rights of people of color, especially African Americans. It is here that young people—from Raleigh to Durham, from Elizabeth City to Greensboro—were activated to protest racial injustice. It is here where everyday people from Rocky Mount, to Robeson and Halifax Counties resisted oppression and intimidation. Leaders like Dovey Roundtree, Pauli Murray and Golden Frinks called our state home. 

In honor of this work, we will join communities across the state to physically mark sites critical to the Civil Rights Movement in North Carolina. Between 2021 and 2024, we will place 50 markers in counties across the state, highlighting and acknowledging tireless civil rights efforts that are well known and, in some cases, unsung. Ten of these markers will be placed in Hometown Strong counties (rural counties that have been identified as Tier 1 or Tier 2).

We invite you to apply for one of these markers. Please continue reading for marker program criteria and details.