Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail - National Park Service

Description

The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail was created by Congress in 2006 to cover the 54 miles walked by civil rights demonstrators in March 1965. The actions undertaken by these demonstrators and the movements around them paint a descriptive picture of the struggle for voting rights in Alabama's Black Belt. Along the Trail sit 2 Interpretive Centers: The Selma Interpretive Center, at the base of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and the Lowndes Interpretive Center, on the site of Tent City. Here, visitors learn about years of work leading to the Selma to Montgomery March, causes of the March, involvement of local communities and national organizations, and sharecroppers and tenant farmers evicted from land they worked and lived on for registering to vote. Both Interpretive Centers give a snapshot of the Voting Rights Movement at a different stage. People from all over the world travel to this site to view iconic symbols of the movement.

We strive to educate people about the importance of the Voting Rights Movement in the cannon of America history and current events through on-site visitation, outreach, social media, education and other means. Volunteers are extremely important to our operation in both Selma and Lowndes County. Not only do volunteers provide valuable work to our sites from running the interpretive center desk to performing outreach programs, but they also enrich both staff and visitors by sharing their love for these sites through their work. Volunteers are a lifeblood that we need to keep this story alive!