Selma to Montgomery March Byway
un dia / 50 milles / una hora 40 minuts
Journey through history along the trail that marks one of the major historic events in 20th-century American history, the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March, led by Martin Luther King, Jr. Wind through the streets of Selma; pass through countryside where marchers spent the night on their way to Montgomery.
Dia 1
9:00 - 0 milles / 0 - 9:00
Organized by freedmen after the Civil War in 1866, the Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church was the first A.M.E. church in the state. Brown Chapel served as the headquarters for the Voting Rights Movement and later as the starting point for the historic Selma to Montgomery March.
9:30 - 0.3 milles / - 9:30
National Voting Rights Museum and Institute
The National Voting Rights Museum commemorates the struggle by
African Americans, and white sympathizers, to gain voting rights, a
struggle that lasted from the beginnings of the nation through the
extension of the Voting Rights Act in 1982 by President Reagan.
"Most of the pivotal events pertaining to modern-day Voting
Rights issues happened in Selma," said Joanne Bland, Director and
co-founder of the NVRMI, which opened in 1992.
The museum features various theme rooms that powerfully
highlight different aspects of the movement for equality. It's a
struggle that shouldn't be forgotten.10:30 - 0 milles / 0 - 10:30
Edmund Winston Pettus Bridge became a symbol of the momentous changes taking place in Alabama, America, and the world. It was here that voting rights marchers were violently confronted by law enforcement personnel on March 7, 1965. The day became known as Bloody Sunday.
The march resumed on Sunday March 21, with court protection through Federal District Court Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr., who weighed the right of mobility against the right to march and ruled in favor of the demonstrators. "The law is clear that the right to petition one's government for the redress of grievances may be exercised in large groups...," said Judge Johnson, "and these rights may be exercised by marching, even along public highways."
This time, 3,200, versus the initial 600, marches headed east out of Selma, across the Edmund Pettus Bridge and on to Montgomery. Marches walked 12 miles a day and slept in fields. By the time they reached the capitol on Thursday, March 25, they were 25,000-strong. Less than five months later, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 -- the best possible redress of grievances.10:40 - 49.8 milles / una hora 39 minuts - 12:20