Selma

A Guide to Touring Alabama's Civil Rights Trail

Two AJC reporters offer a guide to those interested in marking Black History Month with a tour of Alabama's major civil rights sites, memorials and museums. 

Project Seeks to Name the Foot Soldiers of Selma's Bloody Sunday

Auburn University professors Richard Burt and Keith Hebert, working with a group of honors college students, have established a Facebook page where people can look through photographs of March 7, 1965, and identify themselves or others in the black-and-white images.

Stolen Confederate Monument will Become a 'Toilet' Unless ‘White Lies Matter’ Demands are Met, Group Vows

The group claiming responsibility has issued a ransom demand: the United Daughters of the Confederacy can secure the return of the chair by flying a banner quoting Black radical Assata Shakur over its Richmond, Virginia headquarters. 

On the Anniversary of Selma We are Sadly Reminded: Voting Rights are Still Imperiled

by Elliott Smith

The legacy of sacrifice by voting rights activists like Amelia Boynton is being imperiled by a wave of state voter suppression laws. 

Auburn Professors Working to Preserve History of Selma’s ‘Bloody Sunday’

Richard Burt and Keith Hébert are leading a team of researchers to preserve the site of the historic attack on voting rights marchers by Alabama State Troopers on March 7, 1965, hoping that a better-preserved public monument will clear up misperceptions of the day's events. 

Dropping ‘Pettus’ Is a Bridge Too Far

by Jonathan Zimmerman

Advocates of renaming the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma for John Lewis are disregarding Lewis's published thoughts on the subject. 

John Lewis Makes Final Journey Across Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma (Video)

Hundreds had gathered along the route from the church to the bridge, some traveling hours to see Lewis’s final journey, others lining up in the early morning.

Petition Calls for Selma Bridge To Be Named After John Lewis

Advocates for the name change include filmmaker Ava DuVernay and South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn.

Inside The Museum Preserving Selma, Alabama's Complicated History

"The history here is so deep and I’ve got a little bit of everything here to tell its story. "

After 54 years, the fight for voting rights in Selma is ongoing, organizers say

A Supreme Court decision in 2013, Shelby County v. Holder, rendered much of the Voting Rights Act ineffective. 

SMU Graduate Shares Never Published Photos of March 25, 1965 Selma-To-Montgomery March

When Southern Methodist University student Loy Williams hurriedly packed his bag before climbing aboard a bus bound to join civil rights protesters in Montgomery, Ala., he grabbed his Argus C3 camera.

I liked the movie, but “Selma” missed a few teaching moments

by Julian E. Zelizer

There has been a lot written about what is wrong or right with the film Selma. Here are a few unexplored points.

Harvard’s Drew Faust remembers when she decided to march in Selma

She skipped her exams to participate.

Fifty Years After Bloody Sunday in Selma, Everything and Nothing Has Changed

by Ari Berman

The laws are different, but racism persists.

Life Magazine's Coverage of Selma

See how Selma was reported by Life.

From Selma to Black Power

by Benjamin Hedin

Only a few miles away from where the legendary march began, a new phase of civil-rights activism gathered momentum.

GOP leaders to skip Selma event

‘They’ve lost an opportunity to show the American people that they care,’ one black lawmaker says.

“The American Promise” — LBJ’s Finest Hour

by Gary May

It is unusual when a presidential address stands the test of time. Lyndon Johnson’s “The American Promise” belongs in that special group of historic speeches. It still speaks to an America torn by racial discord and a challenge to the right to vote for all.

The Riot That Sparked the Selma March

by Gary May

The racist violence in Selma, Alabama, 50 years ago lives in history as ‘‘Bloody Sunday,’’ but do not forget the February night of vigilantism in Marion that inspired the Selma March.

'Bloody Sunday' altered history of a horrified nation

Photos of that terrible day were seen around the world. Historians credit the beatings, and the public outrage that followed, as a catalyst for the passage of the Voting Rights Act.