Walk in the footsteps of civil rights legends such as Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King … The "Black Belt" region of the South runs from Virginia through the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, and into the delta of the Mississippi River including portions of Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, and the northwest section of Mississippi. Selma is served by the Montgomery-Selma television Designated Market Area (DMA). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 14.4 square miles (37 km2), of which 13.9 square miles (36 km2) is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km2) is water.[19]. In 1996 it was designated as part of the 'National Civil Rights Trail' by President Bill Clinton and is administered by the National Park Service. [clarification needed] Gen. Benjamin Grierson, invading with a cavalry force from Memphis, Tennessee, was intercepted and returned. The public high school is Selma High School. After the Supreme Court case Smith v. Allwright (1944) ended the use of white primaries by the Democratic Party, the Alabama state legislature passed a law giving voting registrars more authority to challenge prospective voters under the literacy test. Forrest had hoped to bring his entire force to bear on Wilson. Both Long and Upton had positioned significant numbers of troops in their rear for just such an event. King and other civil-rights leaders filed for court protection for a third, larger-scale march from Selma to Montgomery, the state capital. The council's members were elected at-large by the entire city, and the white majority had managed to control the elections. On March 30, 1865, Union General James H. Wilson detached Gen. John T. Croxton's brigade to destroy all Confederate property at Tuscaloosa. Their moral campaign had attracted thousands from across the country.[16]. The Federal commander's plan was for Upton to send in a 300-man detachment after dark to cross the swamp on the Confederate right; enter the works, and begin a flanking movement toward the center moving along the line of fortifications. The two high schools, Southside and Selma City have student populations that are virtually 100% African American. Mixed units of Confederate troops had also occupied the Selma railroad depot and the adjoining banks of the railroad bed to make a stand next to the Plantersville Road (present day Broad Street). Their cause must be our cause too. [3] About 80% of the population is African-American. The population density was 1,479.6 square miles (3,832 km2). In 2000 sections of Highway 80 leading into Selma were renamed in honor of leaders in the Selma Voting Rights Movement: F.D. Selma City Schools operates the city's public schools. Things to Do in Selma, Alabama: See Tripadvisor's 1,921 traveler reviews and photos of Selma tourist attractions. It was initiated and organized by James Bevel, SCLC's Director of Direct Action, who was directing SCLC's Selma Movement. I suspect that fifty years later, with increased school segregation, police attacks on Black men, continued poverty, and the loss of voting rights protection, Dr. King would give a very similar speech. At prominent positions, earthen forts were built with artillery in position to cover the ground over which an assault would have to be made. These stories are left out of the movie because King was not in Selma when they happened. Violent crimes are more than double the national rate and crimes against property are 40% higher. They walked approximately 12 miles a day and slept in nearby fields. Share this article on Facebook. The Union troops looted the city that night and burned many businesses and private residences. Today is National Voter Registration Day! Beginning in January 1965, SCLC and SNCC initiated a revived voting-rights campaign designed to focus national attention on the systematic denial of black voting rights in Alabama, and particularly in Selma. They left Selma heading to Montgomery. [10], In early 1963, Bernard Lafayette and Colia Lafayette of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) began organizing in Selma alongside local civil rights leaders Sam, Amelia and Bruce Boynton, Rev. 29 … But that night, white minister James Reeb, who had traveled to the city from Boston, was attacked and killed in Selma by members of the KKK. Defying intimidation, economic retaliation, arrests, firings and beatings, an ever-increasing number of Dallas County blacks tried to register to vote, but few were able to do so under the subjective system administered by whites. Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. The police intended to save Webb from a local lynch mob, but the mob abducted Webb from the jail and killed him. Forrest was wounded by a saber-wielding Union captain, whom he shot and killed with his revolver. The clashes didn’t discourage King: he organised two other marches shortly after. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 20,756 as of the 2010 census. The city and rural region have struggled economically, as agriculture does not provide enough jobs. The federal government provided protection in the form of National Guard and military troops. Selma to Montgomery is a national historic trail in Alabama which traces the march of non-violent supporters of equal… The last one, on 25 March 1965, brought together about 25,000 people who marched from Selma to Montgomery, up to the state capitol. Tap here to turn on desktop notifications to get the news sent straight to you. Hudson Middle School and the School of Discovery. The white Democratic state legislature imposed Jim Crow laws of racial segregation in public facilities and other means of white supremacy. As a teacher and teacher educator, I hope other teachers find this useful as they plan Martin Luther King Day lessons. Before the march, civil rights groups had been … The city developed its own police force. The result was him--Barack Obama, Child of Destiny. County law enforcement was run by an elected county sheriff, whose jurisdiction included the grounds of the county courthouse. ", remains the crucial one for people who believe in social justice. It is also not just a discussion of history. In the 1960s, blacks who pushed the boundaries, attempting to eat at "white-only" lunch counters or sit in the downstairs "white" section of movie theaters, were still beaten and arrested. An Auburn man caught on camera while storming the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6 is now facing charges from the federal government, including civil disorder, entering a … The racial makeup of the city was 80.3% Black or African American, 18.0% White, 0.20% Native American, 0.60% Asian, 0.1% other races, 0.80% from two or more races and Hispanics or Latinos, of any race, comprised 0.60% of the population. We have reviews of the best places to see in Selma. The city has eight elementary schools. Legal. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman first made an effort to reach it, but after advancing from the west as far as Meridian, Mississippi, within 107 miles (172 km) of Selma, his forces retreated back to the Mississippi River. In June 1893, a lynch mob numbering 100 men seized "a black man named Daniel Edwards from the Selma jail, hanged him from a tree, and fired multiple rounds into his body" for allegedly becoming intimate with a white woman. In consequence, Negroes are still impoverished aliens in an affluent society." He quickly remounted his stricken horse and ordered a dismounted assault by several regiments. Social studies educator, Hofstra University, my opinions, of course, are my own, Sign up for membership to become a founding member and help shape HuffPost's next chapter. Location of Selma in Dallas County, Alabama. When I ask, "What happened in Selma?," I am really asking what has happened since the events portrayed in the movie and what happened to the struggle for civil rights and social justice in the United States that seemed so promising in 1965. Selma, Dallas County and other jurisdictions carried out the segregation laws passed by the state. Area attractions include the Old Town Historic District, Old Live Oak Cemetery, Paul M. Grist State Park, and Old Cahawba Archaeological Park. Almost 60 percent of Dallas County children live below the poverty line. Especially in the post-World War II period, legal challenges by the NAACP against Southern discriminatory laws enabled blacks to more freely exercise their constitutional rights as citizens. Selma, AL Directions {{::location.tagLine.value.text}} Sponsored Topics. Anonymous. Share this article on Twitter. The Confederacy's Greatest Cavalryman by Brian Steel Wills, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Southeastern League of Professional Baseball, "Selma, Alabama memorializes lynching victims, March 05, 2018", "Selma & the March to Montgomery-A Discussion November–June, 2004–2005", Ari Berman, "Fifty Years After Bloody Sunday in Selma, Everything and Nothing Has Changed", "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990", David J. Krajicek, "On the Road to Selma, a Jim Crow Relic", "Shameful! The Mayor of Selma, George Patrick Evans, is African American, as is the City Council president, seven of the ten members of the City Council, the Chief of Police, and all five members of the school board. When state troopers met the demonstrators at the edge of the city by the Edmund Pettus Bridge, that day became known as "Bloody Sunday." Thousands joined the march along the way. [clarification needed] [7]. if he has a whole bunch of secret service. The First March From Selma March 7, 1965 When about 600 people started a planned march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, on Sunday March 7, 1965, it was called a demonstration. It was established as a Carnegie library in 1904, receiving matching funds for construction. The Confederates replied with heavy small arms and artillery fire. However, seven years later, blacks had not been able to elect a candidate of their choice to the city council. A look at Selma, Alabama today, what has changed and what has not, points to the long road the United States and the American people still must travel to achieve the dream Martin Luther King spelled out in his 1963 speech at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The state ranks 49th in school funding and since 2008 leads the nation in state budget cuts to public education. Taylor did so after giving Forrest command of the defense. In March 1965, the Selma to Montgomery march became a watershed moment for the civil rights movement of the 1960s. In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.3% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The activists were attempting to walk 50 miles from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to protest voter suppression of African Americans. Whites made up one-third of the marchers. 0 1. This would be prior to the march on March 7, 1965 March from Selma to Montgomery, AL. This strategic concentration of manufacturing capabilities eventually made Selma a target of Union raids into Alabama late in the Civil War.[6]. In August 2012, plans were announced to build a larger monument, more resistant to vandalism, but many African Americans object to it because of his established history as a postwar leader with the KKK and his earlier involvement in the massacre of black Union troops at Fort Pillow. In less than 30 minutes, Long's men had captured the works protecting the Summerfield Road. They were anchored on the north and south by the Alabama River. ©2021 Verizon Media. Marching in the front row with King were Rev. [23][25][26], The Selma-Dallas County Public Library serves the city and the region with a collection of 76,751 volumes. Selma, Alabama. Activists planned a larger, more public march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery to publicize their cause. This is not a movie review, although I do discuss the movie Selma. Why. After the outer works fell, General Wilson led the 4th U.S. Cavalry Regiment in a mounted charge down the Range Line Road toward the unfinished inner line of works. Check flight prices and hotel availability for your visit. Alabama Selma Edmund Pettus Bridge Edmund Pettus Bridge The Edmund Pettus Bridge, now a National Historic Landmark, was the site of the brutal Bloody Sunday beatings of civil rights marchers during the first march for voting rights. Delays caused by flooding, plus earlier contact with the enemy, resulted in Forrest's mustering fewer than 2,000 men, many of whom were not war veterans but home militia consisting of old men and young boys. Even where the door has been forced partially open, mobility for the Negro is still sharply restricted. The median age was 36 years. He had placed Gen. Eli Long's Division across the Summerfield Road with the Chicago Board of Trade Battery in support. On the afternoon of April 1, opening what would be the final full month of the war, and after skirmishing all morning, Wilson's advanced guard ran into Forrest's line of battle at Ebenezer Church, where the Randolph Road intersected the main Selma road. Posted on 03/27/2008 10:36:25 AM PDT by TheDotte. We made it easy for you to exercise your right to vote. [24] It was torn down in 2012, reflecting the continuing controversy about him. Industries in Selma include International Paper, Bush Hog (agricultural equipment), Plantation Patterns, American Apparel, and Peerless Pump Company (LaBour), Renasol, and Hyundai. Early the next morning, Forrest reached Selma; he advised Gen. Richard Taylor, departmental commander, to leave the city. Selma has four private K–12 schools: John T. Morgan Academy, founded in 1965, Meadowview Christian School, Ellwood Christian Academy, and Cathedral Christian Academy. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 72.0 males. The current mayor is Darrio Melton. After they passed over the crest of the Edmund Pettus Bridge and left the boundaries of the city, they were confronted by county sheriff's deputies and state troopers, who attacked them using tear gas, horses and billy clubs, and drove them back across the bridge. Push for Voting Rights Sparked Selma Protests. George Corley Wallace State Community College (Wallace Community College Selma) located at the edge of the city limits near Valley Grande, Alabama. Insurgents tried to keep white supremacy over the freedmen, and most whites resented former slaves being granted the right to vote. St. James Hotel and a portion of Water Avenue in Selma, Queen City of the Black Belt, Butterfly Capital of Alabama. About 26.9% of families and 31.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 41.8% of those under age 18 and 28.0% of those age 65 or over. Chestnut (Selma's first black attorney), SCLC Citizenship School teacher Marie Foster, public school teacher Marie Moore, Frederick D. Reese and others active with the Dallas County Voters League (DCVL). [clarification needed] Gen. Rousseau made a dash in the direction of Selma, but was misled by his guides and struck the railroad forty miles east of Montgomery. 0 0. In the documentary we learn how during the "Bloody Sunday" police attack on marchers on Edmund Pettus Bridge, Hosea Williams, one of the march's leaders, carried an eight-year old girl to safety. 32.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. In Selma, the county registration board opened doors for registration only two days a month, arrived late and took long lunches. Get directions, maps, and traffic for Selma, AL. I agree with an essay SUNY Geneseo professor of history Emilye Crosby wrote for the Zinn Education Project that the biggest problem with the movie is that its intense focus on the role of Martin Luther King and the first three months of 1965 takes attention away from the long struggle by the people of Selma and many others active in the Civil Rights movement to bring the issue of African American voting rights to a head in the United States. What was the first date that protesters were assembled in Selma, AL on the Court House steps having their picture taken by National TV (NBC). In Selma, with a population of a little over 20,000 people, 80% of whom are African American, the official unemployment rate hovers at about 12%, more than twice the national average. Anderson of Tabernacle Baptist Church, J.L. [13], In the summer of 1964, a sweeping injunction issued by local judge James Hare barred any gathering of three or more people under sponsorship of SNCC, SCLC or DCVL, or with the involvement of 41 named civil rights leaders. Threatened with a lawsuit under the Voting Rights Act, the council voted to adopt a system of electing its ten members from single-member districts. They were 8 feet (2.4 m) to 12 feet (3.7 m) high, 15 feet (4.6 m) thick at the base, with a ditch 4 feet (1.2 m) wide and 5 feet (1.5 m) deep along the front. They escaped in the darkness by swimming across the Alabama River near the mouth of Valley Creek (where the present day Battle of Selma Reenactment is held.). People turned their backs on Michael Bloomberg during his Selma speech The billionaire was speaking in front of a historically Black church in Alabama. The Federals suffered many casualties (including General Long) but continued their attack. What happened in Selma. As in other southern states, white Democrats regained political power in the mid-1870s after suppressing black voting through violence and fraud; Reconstruction officially ended in 1877 when federal troops were withdrawn. As a result of poor student performance, a state team has taken over day-to-day operation of the public schools headed by acting Superintendent Larry DiChiara, who is White. [citation needed]. [9] All the members of the city council were elected by at-large voting. The fighting there was heavy, but by 7 p.m. the superior numbers of Union troops had managed to flank the Southern positions. Over forty percent of households are single parent families, compared to about 17% in the United States as a whole. The outnumbered and outgunned Confederates fought for more than an hour as reinforcements of Union cavalry and artillery were deployed. What Happened In Selma Alabama. White families in Selma, and some of the more affluent Black families, send their children to the better performing Meadowview Christian School where the student population is over 90% White. In the darkness, the Federals rounded up hundreds of prisoners, but hundreds more escaped down the Burnsville Road, including generals Forrest, Armstrong, and Roddey. However, my greatest concern with the story told in the movie Selma is that it presents the final march from Selma to the Alabama state capital in Montgomery and the Voting Rights Act as a triumphant conclusion to the African American Civil Rights Movement. For every 100 females, there were 78.2 males. March 21, 1965 to March 25, 1965. The city council members are: Corey D. Bowie, City Council President; Carl Bowline, Ward 1; Susan M. Keith, Ward 2; Miah Tolbert-Jackson, Ward 3; Angela Benjamin, Ward 4; Samuel L. Randolph, Ward 5; Johnnie Leashore, Ward 6; Jannie Thomas, Ward 7; Michael Johnson, Ward 8. There were 8,196 households, out of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them; 34.2% were married couples living together, 27.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% were non-families. Much has changed since 1965. [11], In 1963, under the leadership of Patricia Swift Blalock, the public library of Selma-Dallas County was integrated. What started as a virtual funeral, was transformed into a victory celebration as people joined together in singing "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around." John Lewis saw the line of Alabama state troopers a few hundred yards away as he led hundreds of marchers to the apex of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on March 7… Gen. Emory Upton's Division was placed across the Range Line Road with Battery I, 4th US Artillery in support. Blacks were prevented from registering to vote by means of a literacy test, administered in a subjective way, as well as through economic retaliation organized by the White Citizens' Council in response to civil rights activism, Ku Klux Klan violence and police repression. Alabama “What happened in Selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every section and State of America. As White liberals drifted away from the movement, Black communities were increasingly radicalized and less than a week after Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in August 1965 rioting broke out in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. The tragedies and triumphs that took place in Alabama during the 1950s and 1960s awakened an entire nation to the reality of racial injustice and hatred that affected African-Americans all over the country. [5], During the Civil War, Selma was one of the South's main military manufacturing centers, producing many supplies and munitions, and building Confederate warships such as the ironclad Tennessee. Museums in the city include Sturdivant Hall, the National Voting Rights Museum, Historic Water Avenue, Martin Luther King, Jr. Street Historic Walking Tour, Old Depot Museum, Joe Calton Bates Children Education and History Museum, Vaughan-Smitherman Museum and Heritage Village. Selma Interpretive Centre. Cultural events are held at the Performing Arts Center, and the Selma Art Guild Gallery. In February 1892, Willy Webb was put in the jail in Selma after police arrested him in Waynesville. Selma was a trading center and market town during the antebellum years of King Cotton in the South. In 1732, they recorded the site of present-day Selma as Écor Bienville. The Selma Voting Rights Struggle: 15 Key Points from Bottom-Up History and Why It Matters Today. 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