In 1989 the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) established the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama. Designed by the artist Maya Lin, the circular black granite table records the names of 40 people who lost their lives during the struggle and chronicles the history of the Movement in lines that radiate like the hands of a clock.

The memorial was built at the entrance to the SPLC and close to the church where Martin Luther King served as minister when he led the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Over 6,000 people gathered in Montgomery on November 5, 1989, to participate in the dedication of the Memorial. This included Julian Bond, Rosa Parks, Morris Dees, Rita Schwerner Bender, widow of Michael Schwerner; Mamie Till Mobley, mother of Emmett Till; Chris McNair, father of Birmingham bombing victim Denise McNair; and Myrlie Evers, widow of Medger Evers.

Names on the memorial include Emmett Till, Herbert Lee, Medger Evers, Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, Jimmie Lee Jackson, James Reeb, Viola Liuzzo, Jonathan Daniels, Samuel Younge and Martin Luther King.