Putting Selma to Montgomery in Historical Context
Telling our Story
To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March, and the events of “Bloody Sunday” the John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation, in partnership with the City of Selma, the Historic Tabernacle Baptist Church Legacy Foundation, the National Park Service, and with the support of Wells Fargo, installed and unveiled two commemorative plaques at Songs of Selma Park at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 6, 2025.
These videos are contemporaneous accounts of the Third Selma to Montgomery March. George Barbour, a KDKA radio reporter from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, had to convince his supervisors to allow him to cover the March, despite the potential for physical harm. The world had already seen what happened when John Lewis and Hosea Williams had led people across the Bridge March 7, 1960.
In these videos, you can hear John Lewis and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in their own words. You can hear the songs the marchers were singing. You can hear why they were marching.
The Voting Rights Journey Plaques
The plaques that were installed tell the history of The Voting Rights Journey, starting with the founding of the NAACP in Alabama in 1918. It highlights the roles played by people like Samuel and Amelia Boynton, and Rev. Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Jr.
The plaques include pictures of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, and tells the story of Jimmie Lee Jackson. His death was the spark for the Selma to Montgomery March. It includes the iconic pictures of John Lewis walking on the bridge with Hosea Williams, and of course, The Two-Minute Warning, when he faced off with Alabama state troopers.
The images and captions also show the progress we’ve made. It includes pictures of the first Black Mayor of Selma and the first Black judge in Dallas County. It includes pictures of Rep. Earl Hilliard and Rep. Terri Sewell, both of whom served with John Lewis. The story ends, for now, with pictures of President Barack Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris at the Bridge.
Thousands of people visit the Edmund Pettus Bridge every year because of its historical significance, drawn mostly by the Selma Jubilee celebrations every March.
These plaques will provide people with historical context. They don’t just focus on the past, but also our present. They show how far we’ve come. They give people a sense of The Voting Rights Journey.
(On Mobile, click on the image and zoom in to read the captions.)
As a nation, if we care for the Beloved Community, we must move our feet, our hands, our hearts, our resources to build and not tear down, to reconcile and not to divide, to love and not to hate.