Last year, on our “Great Western Circuit,” we ventured up through Mississippi. We hiked the Natchez Trace trails and learned about the history of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians, We learned about their displacement by America’s relentless push west and their forced march on the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma Territory. You can read those posts here: Natchez Trace Part One, Two, Three and Four.

This year, we opted to explore Alabama and some of the national forests there. We also decided to wind our way through Selma, site of some of the most famous marches of the Civil Rights era and “Bloody Sunday.” Former US Senator John Lewis wrote about that day in 1965, “the marchers were stopped as they were leaving Selma, at the end of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, by some 150 Alabama state troopers, sheriff’s deputies, and possemen, who ordered the demonstrators to disperse.” One minute and five seconds after a two-minute warning was announced, the troops advanced, wielding clubs, bullwhips, and tear gas. John Lewis, who suffered a skull fracture, was one of fifty-eight people treated for injuries at the local hospital.

This was a turning point in American history, so when we saw that the National Museum of Voting Rights was located at the foot of the bridge we had to stop. The museum exhibited materials, photos, journalism and artifacts from the voting rights struggle in America, the “Bloody Sunday” march, the Selma to Montgomery March, and the Civil Rights Movement throughout the South. It’s a small, somewhat underfunded museum, but it’s definitely worth the visit if you’re passing through.

Then we walked across the bridge, still named after Edmund Pettus, a former Confederate brigadier general, U.S. senator, and state-level leader (“Grand Dragon”) of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan. But it’s so central to the civil rights movement that efforts to change the name have met with resistance from both the right and the left. Regardless, it was an important walk for us to make and consider the struggles and sacrifices of that era to push for equal rights and opportunities… a struggle that is clearly still ongoing.

On the other side, in the old downtown area, we met George Sallie, a veteran of the Korean War and the Civil Rights movement. In fact, he was a “foot soldier” on this bridge 57 years ago, and marched with John Lewis and Martin Luther King, Jr. Today, at 94 years of age, he’s telling his story to tourists and anyone who has an ear to listen, selling t-shirts and other memorabilia. We were happy to make a small donation and get a selfie with this hero.

Later in the day, we walked through distressed neighborhoods to see the Brown Chapel AME Church, the starting point for the Selma-to-Montgomery marches. We roamed through the historic Live Oak Cemetery, founded in 1829. It contains burials of Confederate leaders, as well Benjamin Sterling Turner, an African-American who served as U.S. Representative for Alabama during the Reconstruction era. And, we ate at the Downtowner Restaurant, one of the few still remaining from the civil rights era. While there, one of their patrons came up to regale us with all the historic sights to visit in her town.

However, for a town that has so much history and was so pivotal to the Civil Rights Movement, it’s amazing how much it seems to be struggling today. It’s one of the poorest in Alabama and the condition of the streets and the buildings just a block from its tiny downtown reflected that. We saw only a few other tourists while we were there, most of whom appeared to be visitors from other countries and part of a guided bus tour.

Nevertheless, if you like history, this should definitely be on your list of places to visit.  We are glad we did. You will be too.