Selma

One of the highlights of the trip for me was our visit to Selma.

The route from Selma to Montgomery is now a National Historic Trail. The Park Service brochure sums it up nicely:

"The 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capitol in Montgomery in 1965 culminated a journey of a hundred years by African Americans to gain one of the most fundamental of American freedoms: the right to vote. The peaceful march was possible because in the preceding days courageous citizens, local leaders, and civil rights groups had, at the cost of harassment, bloodshed, and innocent lives, come together to demand that right. The final march was a celebration of their achievement, a processional for fallen comrades, and the climactic event of the modern civil rights movement."

Anyone interested in this era in American history, or in the evolution of rights in the modern world, would do well to take a pilgrimage along this route. Beginning with the Brown Chapel AME Church (closed when we tried to see it) and the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute ( http://nvrmi.com/ )in Selma and ending at the state building, one could hike, bike or drive the 54-mile route over the course of several days without running out of things to see. I found the Voting Rights Museum to be one of the most interesting of the whole trip. It continues to keep the issue of voting rights alive with an annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee event featuring three days of activities, including a film festival, youth leadership conference, re-enactments and more. The museum's exhibits include a series of plaster cast footprints of the Foot Soldiers who participated in the march. By the time we arrived at the museum it had closed for the day. Fortunately, the staff on duty saw us out there and let us in anyway or else we would have missed this moving collection of exhibits.

We stayed one night at the historic St. James Hotel in Selma and were on our way again bright and early the next day. Next stop: New Orleans!