Selma Alabama

Thursday 10 April
Today, we were leaving Gulf Shores, and driving about 3 1/2 hours north to Montgomery, the capital of Alabama, where we are spending two nights in a Bed and Breakfast. On the way, we made a detour to visit the town of Selma, best known for its role in the the 1960s civil rights movement and the Selma to Montgomery marches in March 1965. On March 7, 1965, approximately 600 civil rights marchers departed Selma on U.S. Highway 80, heading east to the capital, to press for voting rights.After they passed over the crest of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, top right in my collage, 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 clubs, and drove them back across the bridge. Seventeen marchers were hospitalized and 50 more were treated for lesser injuries. Because of the brutal attacks, this became known as "Bloody Sunday", and it was covered by national press and television news, reaching many American and international homes.[
By the end of March 1965, an estimated 25,000 people entered Montgomery to press for voting rights. This activism generated national attention for social justice, and was crucial to the eventual passage that summer of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson.
The church shown in my collage is Brown Chapel, which served as the organization hub and starting point for the marches.
We arrived at our Bed and Breakfast about 5 pm, in quite a grand southern mansion and were warmly welcomed by the husband of the couple, who shared the history of the house and their ownership, showed us around and took us to our room and showed us a list of restaurants. We finally chose an Italian restaurant, which was pretty good.