Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Historical marker describes Selma's place in Civil Rights history

'Selma Movement' Historical Marker
This week’s featured historical marker is the “THE SELMA MOVEMENT” marker in Selma, Alabama. The marker is located at the foot of the Edmund-Pettus Bridge, on the west side of the Alabama River, near the corner of Broad Street and Water Avenue.

This marker was erected by the City of Selma in 1990. There’s text on both sides of this marker, and both sides are unique. What follows is the complete text from the marker.

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“THE SELMA MOVEMENT (The Beginning): The major civil rights protest, which focused national attention on the issue of racial discrimination in voting and led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, was centered in Selma.
“In January of 1963 local citizens organized a voter registration class and by February others were in Selma to assist with registration. Local law officials and blacks seeking to register to vote soon clashed and this received widespread news coverage.
“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to Selma in January of 1965 to lead the drive for the vote. This began the marches to the Dallas County Courthouse, the great number of arrests, the ensuing violence and national media attention on Selma and the issue of voter registration.”

“THE SELMA MOVEMENT (The Prize): On Sunday, March 7, 1965, 600 people led by Hosea Williams and John Lewis began a march to Montgomery to take their quest for voting rights directly to Governor George C. Wallace. At the Pettus bridge they were met by state troopers who used horses, tear gas and billy clubs to break up the march.
“A march on March 9, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., met the troopers at the same place and turned around without incident.
“The Federal Court ruled the march was legal and with Federal protection, 4,000 began the march to Montgomery on March 21. Camping along the road the protestors reached 25,000 in number by the time they reached the State Capital on March 25.
“National news coverage of these events secured widespread support and led to the approval of the Voting Rights Act on Aug. 6, 1965.”

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The marker described above was one of many I encountered in August when I took a walking tour of downtown Selma. Selma is said to have the largest historic district in the state, and you’ll find historical markers all over the downtown area. If you ever get the chance to visit Selma, I highly recommend that you take this walking tour, which spotlights not only the city’s place in the Civil Rights Movement, but also its important place in Civil War and Alabama history. The walking tour is about a mile long and it doesn’t take long to complete, depending on how long you take to read out all the historical markers and look at all the buildings on the tour.

In the end, visit this site next Wednesday to learn about another historical marker. I’m also taking suggestions from the reading audience, so if you know of an interesting historical marker that you’d like me to feature, let me know in the comments section below.

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