Over the years, we have visited museums, memorials, and watched movies about the Civil Rights Movement. During our travels to Birmingham, Montgomery and the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, we met hundreds of people. We realized the need to share our experiences with others. We also noticed their reactions, the awe in their faces, and promptly recognized there are even more people who have not had the opportunity to visit the Civil Rights Trail.
Majestic Travel was birthed to give people the privilege to see, learn, and share the experience of being in the places where the struggles for equality changed our world.
We travel along the Civil Rights Trail. The ride on our bus is filled with exciting stories and anecdotes about people, places, and events that impacted this country’s history. The narratives provide the opportunity for interactions among the passengers and the guide. Our tour guide worked in many of these places as a former staff member of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
Shirley Miller Gamble (Partner)
Civil Rights Activist
I was born in Savannah, Georgia during the time that Segregation was a way of life. Even as a young girl, it was hard for me to accept the status quo. I am the second of four children and the most outspoken. I knew back then that I wanted to make a difference. I was very passionate about things others seemed so passive about.
At the age of 16, I went to work with the Chatham County Crusade for Voters headed by Hosea Williams. When the opportunity came to march for equality, social justice, and something as fundamental as the right to vote, I did not hesitate. I became a Non-Violent Activist following Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s teachings and was arrested several times. The one thing I did not realize in my decision to become involved was that I could die. There was always the possibility that today or tonight could be my last, but it was always overshadowed by the cause and the cost of freedom.
Through the years I continued to work with Voters registration, the electoral process, and projects for the betterment of our community. I also planned trips for reunions and sporting events. I wanted to do Civil Rights Tours so people could actually see and experience places where some events of the Civil Rights Movement took place.
My journey continues through Majestic Travel by continuing to work to make a difference.
George E. Shinhoster (Partner)
Speaker, Storyteller, Dream Keeper
George E. Shinhoster came of age in the civil turbulence of the 1960s. A native of Savannah, Ga., he was one of the first African Americans to desegregate a high school and college there. He worked with Hosea Williams and the Chatham County Crusade for Voters to register black citizens. In the heat of the civil rights struggle, Mr. Shinhoster worked with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as a field organizer in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina.
He worked with the YMCA for 42 years as an executive in Georgia, South Carolina, Washington State and North Carolina. He retired as President and CEO of the Newark YMCA in New Jersey. Mr. Shinhoster is also a facilitator, trainer, and an inspiring national speaker.
Throughout his travels across the country and in Africa, Mr. Shinhoster continues to promote the lessons learned from the early civil rights movement. He is a keeper of the dream of Dr. King and believes that while much has been accomplished, much more remains to be done.
As a teenager in Savannah, where he grew up one of six children with parents who stressed education and faith in God, Mr. Shinhoster distinguished himself. He was one of seven courageous young people who endured taunts and threats to desegregate Groves High School. He also was one of the first African Americans to attend Armstrong State College.
After joining the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he endured being arrested 19 times in pursuit of voting rights and equal access to public accommodations for black people throughout the South. He marched with Dr. King, experiencing first hand his leadership, commitment and drive in the midst of the struggle.
Now the dream continues with Majestic Travel. We want to share the experiences of the past as we move into the future