MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- To attract tourists, Alabama has long promoted its white sand beaches, Civil War battlegrounds and antebellum mansions. Now, with the election of Barack Obama and a surge of interest in the civil rights movement, the state is trying to attract visitors to the sites of church bombings and police attacks on demonstrators.

This month the state will release a newly expanded Civil Rights Trail guide that prominently features pictures of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and President Obama on the cover. A new video the state made to show tour operators begins with a sound clip from an Obama speech when he mentions the voting rights marches in Selma and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. "The significant events that took place in Alabama during the American civil rights struggle were the forerunner to President Obama's election," says a voiceover during the ad. "In Alabama, you can see where history was made."

Revisiting unflattering incidents from the past, such as when city commissioners in the Birmingham area filled swimming pools and closed parks rather than integrate, hasn't always been easy for Alabama...