Queenswood students visit Alabama USA

Published on isbi School News dated Tuesday 5th of April 2011

On Friday 1 April 2011, 34 girls (aged 16-18) and six teachers from Queenswood School in Brookmans Park set off on a trip of a lifetime to Alabama in the United States of America. Included in their week-long programme is the opportunity to visit the birth place, churches, mausoleum and museum of perhaps the most famous Civil Rights campaigner and Nobel Peace prize winner, Dr Martin Luther King (1929-68).

They will also visit the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham (sometimes referred to as 'Bomingham' because of the riots of the 1960s) and the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, the capital city of Alabama. In 1955, when segregation was at it height, Rosa Parks (1913-2005), an African-American civil rights activist, was thrown off a bus for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger and fined for what was considered an act of civil disobedience by the authorities. She was later thanked by President Clinton for her role in the modern Civil Rights Movement.

Mrs Susan Scriven, Head of History, who has relatives in America, organised the school's first special visit to Alabama in 2007. She said: 'This trip is not typical of most school trips. There are many aspects of history, politics, culture and beliefs which will have a profound effect on everyone taking part.'

As well as visiting other museums and chapels, the group will also go to the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame to learn about the role jazz music has played in black history. And a visit to the 'World of Coca Cola' in Atlanta and a modern American shopping mall will add another dimension to this fascinating trip of a life-time.