Civil Rights Legacy

After winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and in 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. began focusing his attention on Black voter registration in Selma, Alabama. In March of that year, the protesters began their 54-mile march from Selma to Alabama’s state capitol in Montgomery. Led by Civil Rights Activist, John Lewis, the protesters were met with violence on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and the event is now known as Bloody Sunday.

The Selma to Montgomery march is forever a piece of history that will be considered one of the key turning points in the Civil Rights Movement. It would lead to the passage of the Voting Rights Act. 

Selma To Montgomery National Historic Trail, Hayneville:

The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail was established by Congress in 1996 to commemorate the events, people, and route of the 1965 Voting Rights March in Alabama. The march route is a component of the National Trail System and is administered by the National Park Service. The route is also designated as a National Scenic Byway/All-American Road. The 54-mile trail follows the historic march beginning at the Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma and crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge. As they crossed the bridge, the nonviolent marchers were stopped and beaten by law enforcement...