RE-VISITING SELMA FOR MLK DAY

NOTE:  THIS IS AN UPDATE ADDED OCTOBER 12, 2010:  PLEASE READ THE LAST TWO COMMENTS TO THIS POST.  They provide some welcome update information!!

This post is about an overnight trip we made to Selma Alabama when we were staying on the Gulf Coast there.  This was in 2005, so it is possible that some things have changed since then, but the history certainly has not.  I wanted to re-post it to honor Martin Luther King's birthday, celebrated today.

 We went to Selma because we wanted to see this place where so much civil rights history took place.   It was amazing to see "in person" ("in-place"?) the Edmund Pettis Bridge and the Little Brown Church, where the 40-mile March to Montgomery began.  Of course we had watched these events unfold as on the nightly news, but it really doesn't come close to standing on the spot where history happened.   

Below is one link for a quick overview of what happened on the three Selma to Montgomery marches.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/selma_to_montgomery_marches

The Bridge's location is obvious -- because you have to drive across it to get into town.  Whenever we go to any city or town, we go first to the visitor center for literature and directions.  But when we went to one in Selma we were given information only on the "white history" of the area (about the Civil War, cotton, agriculture etc.)  and met with a kind of polite evasion when we asked about the Little Brown Church and the MLK monument.  Apparently, the visitor center felt like the "Black History" was separate and apart.  Unbelievably sad in this day and age.       

So we walked around town and located the Church and the Monument on our own.  And, we found that there is a very interesting Voting Rights Museum quite near to the Bridge.  (No mention of this had been made at the visitor center.)

I wanted to hope that this attitude might have changed some since we were there, but fear it has not.  This morning, when I went to Google to check my memory, especially about the Museum (because we didn't take pictures in it) I found that the official Selma web page gives the museum -- and  indeed the whole Civil Rights/Voting rights issue  -- only the briefest of mentions.  The Museum has no official web-site.   

Anyway, once we located the Museum and went inside, we talked to Joann Bland, the museum founder. (I'm sure that she meets pretty much everybody who comes  -- and in any case there were hardly any other visitors at the time).  As a child, she was at Bloody Sunday, where her companion was wounded, and then she later marched to Montgomery. 

The museum's displays include a good overview film and still photos taken during the marches.  These pictures were actually taken by FBI agents who were keeping an eye on the participants -- the Museum obtained them under the Freedom of Information Act.  The room that I remember most clearly is the one full of shoe-casts of many of the participants in the March to Montgomery (from kids to grandparents).  There was something so poignant about seeing those feet and thinking about the miles they walked to support this cause, under circumstances I can barely imagine even after watching the news and seeing again the film and pictures.  These were just regular people willing to take a huge risk to get to do something we have always taken for granted.  While they certainly had a charismatic leader, nothing would have happened without these ordinary people.

This visit was so worth the time and effort .  Selma's definitely not a top tourist destination, but I feel like it should be.    Our country's history was changed here.  Anyone who has the chance should go.

Comments

[Moncler Jackets]

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[RamblingRound]

Hi Sallie. Thanks for visiting my Selma blog. Glad you enjoyed your visit here, but after reading this post about your impression of the former visitor center, I can assure you that the owner had no intention to slight Selma's civil rights history in any way. I frequently visited the center as editor of Selma Showcase Magazine (published by the visitor center's owner), and there were brochures available as well as Selma Showcase Magazine that covered both civil war and civil rights history and more! However, the center did depend upon the Chamber of Commerce to send brochures, and sometimes the supply may have been low. It was standard for the owner and employees/volunteers to tell a bit about Selma's history, especially civil war and civil rights. There were maps available where they circled the historic sites and then gave the map to the visitors. As background, the visitor center was opened in 1987 by a retired businessman (and Chamber of Commerce executive) and his wife. They saw the need for a visitor center at Selma's busiest intersection, so they purchased the house and fixed up the front rooms as an information center/souvenir shop/bookstore. Many people (more than 15,000 in the early 2000's) stopped there for directions, souvenirs, books and to inquire about places to eat or sleep. The owners manned it daily from 8 a.m. til 8 p.m. After the owner could no longer operate the center due to health reasons, I started the Selma, Ala., Daily Photo Blog primarily as a tribute to him and to show him how many "visitors" Selma drew from around the world via the Internet. After his death in 2007, the Chamber of Commerce operated a temporary center at the library. Then, earlier this year, a new center opened downtown. It doesn't have all the souvenirs or regional books that the old one had, but it is very attractive and manned by a diverse group of citizens. So, the next time you visit, I hope you will stop by there!

[Concerned]

I have to say that I am absolutely shocked at your post. I worked for the Selma Visitor's Center from 2003-06 and always recommended people see the historical sites of the Civil Rights movement and the Voting Rights Museum. I wonder who you saw that day.

[Chatty Crone]

I was a little girl in Atlanta when he was buried. A sad day for sure. He had a great dream. Sandie

[Lady Fi]

THanks for sharing this inspirational post!

[scribbler]

Thank you for visiting my blog. Yours is very interesting.
Sometimes or oftentimes in history the small things are taken for granted when in fact they mean a lot.
Thanks for sharing a piece of history in your blog.

[Margot at Joyfully Retired]

Excellent post. This is going on the List of Places Yet To See. I never thought there would be a special museum but now I want to see it. I'm also shocked at the attitude of the Visitor's Center people. We always try to stop at those centers too as it's a good way to get the feel of a place. Based on your experience in Selma, I'd say not all Visitor Centers are equally as good or true. Sad.

[Happily Retired Gal]

Timely post for this holiday. I've not visited Selma since the summer of 1966 when my sister and I took a 3 month road trip together around the United States so I enjoyed your photos and information. Thanks for sharing.
Hugs and blessings,

[donna]

What an interesting post and also shocking to read that in 2005 the Selma visitor center was evasive about the important black history that took place right there in their city.

Thank you for this post.

donna