Selma to Montgomery March Byway
Selma to Montgomery Driving Tour

Departure: First Baptist Church, Alabama
Destination: Alabama State Capitol, Alabama
Time to allow: 1 day

"Confrontation of good and evil compressed in the tiny community of Selma generated the massive power to turn the whole nation to a new course..." (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., March 25, 1965)

Retrace marchers' steps in their fight for voter rights, from Selma to Montgomery. In Selma the march began, and understandably, in Selma the tour of the Selma to Montgomery Byway begins with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Street Historic Walking Tour, followed by a retracing of the march, which ends at the state capitol in Montgomery.

The tour encompasses the first section of the byway beginning on the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr., Street and Jeff Davis Avenue, passes the George Washington Carver Home, historic landmark Brown AME Church, and the Martin Luther King, Jr., monument. Through written word and vivid historic photographs, each of the 20 memorials along the route tell the story of the individuals, known and unknown, rich and poor, Black and white, who came together for a common cause.

Day 1

  • Start: First Baptist Church

    Suggested time at this stop: 20 minutes

    This church played an important role in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. Before then and since it has stood as a beacon of hope and unity to the community of Selma.

  • Stop 2: Brown Chapel

    From previous stop: 3 minutes / 0.2 mi (0.3 km)
    Directions:

    The Brown Chapel is down the street from the First Baptist Church.
    Suggested time at this stop: 30 minutes

    Headquarters of the Voting Rights Movement, Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke here on a regular basis. The site became the starting point for the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March.

  • Stop 3: Cecil C. Jackson, Jr., Public Safety Building

    From previous stop: 2 minutes / 0.4 mi (0.6 km)
    Directions:

    Head southeast on Martin Luther King St and turn right on Alabama Avenue.
    Suggested time at this stop: 25 minutes

    The Cecil C. Jackson, Jr. Public Safety Building was once the old Selma City Hall. This building served as the city and county jail in which Dr. King and other protesters were imprisoned in 1965.

  • Stop 4: Dallas County Court House

    From previous stop: 2 minutes / 0.2 mi (0.3 km)
    Directions:

    Continue southwest on Alabama Ave.
    Suggested time at this stop: 20 minutes

    This was the destination of most protest marches in an effort to register people to vote.

  • Stop 5: Edmund Pettus Bridge

    From previous stop: 1 minute / 0.2 mi (0.3 km)
    Directions:

    Drive northeast on Alabama Avenue and then turn right on Broad St, heading out of Selma.
    Suggested time at this stop: 10 minutes

    The fight for voting rights climaxed here on March 7, 1965, now commonly known as "Bloody Sunday." Marchers petitioning for equal voting rights were violently confronted and halted by law enforcement personnel on this bridge. Later, of course, a march was successfully made to Montgomery.

  • Stop 6: National Voting Rights Museum

    From previous stop: 1 minute / 0.3 mi (0.5 km)
    Directions:

    Continue across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The National Voting Rights Museum is on the right.
    Suggested time at this stop: 1 hour

    The museum commemorates the struggle of African Americans and white supporters to gain equal voting rights for all Americans, a struggle that lasted from the beginnings of the nation to the extension of the Voting Rights Act in 1982, signed by President Reagan.

  • Stop 7: Campsites

    From previous stop: 55 minutes / 47.8 mi (76.5 km)
    Directions:

    Sites scattered along Highway 80 to St. Jude.
    Suggested time at this stop: 55 minutes

    Marchers walked 54 miles from Selma to Montgomery and spent the night at various campsites along the way. Marchers stayed at the Hall site March 21, 1965. Three-hundred people stayed at the Steele site on March 22. The Robert Gardner site is the third campsite. Marchers stayed here on March 23. The last site is the St. Jude campsite in the historic district of St. Jude, where marchers stayed on March 24.

  • Stop 8: Memorial to Viola Liuzzo

    From previous stop: same location
    Directions:

    Continue along Highway 80.
    Suggested time at this stop: 15 minutes

    Between the cities of Petronia and Whitehall stands the memorial to Viola Liuzzo who was murdered while supporting the movement for civil rights.

  • Stop 9: City of St. Jude

    From previous stop: same location
    Directions:

    Continue along Highway 80.
    Suggested time at this stop: 25 minutes

    Founded during the mid-1930s when segregation was the norm in the Southeast, the City of St. Jude Hospital pioneered nondiscriminatory health, education, and social services.

    On March 24, 1965, voting rights marchers camped in the St. Jude Historic District, on the athletic field. It would be their last night on their path to the capital. That night the athletic field became a stage for a "Stars for Freedom" rally, with singers Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine, Peter, Paul and Mary, and Sammy Davis Jr. all performing.

  • End: Alabama State Capitol

    From previous stop: 11 minutes / 4 mi (6.4 km)
    Directions:

    Continue along Highway 80 to Montgomery. The capitol is located at 600 Dexter Avenue in Montgomery.
    Suggested time at this stop: 30 minutes

    The capitol was the destination of the march. The legion, that had swelled to 25,000, began its final six-mile walk from the City of St. Jude on March 25, to the Alabama Sate Capitol where Dr. King delivered the climatic speech "How Long, Not Long."

    On the steps of the great building, Dr. Martin Luther King told marchers that the journey was through but that the struggle for civil rights was far from over. He assured them that it would be won, though, and that it wouldn't be long. "How long? Not long, because no lie can live forever...How long? Not long. Because the arm of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."

    A 20-member committee, appointed by King, presented a list of grievances to Governor George Wallace as the marchers began to disperse. Thus the historic march came to an end, and participants from all over the United States, Canada, and Europe began their trek home. Within five months of this third march, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Totals for Day 1

Total Distance Traveled: 53.1 miles / 85.0 km
Total Travel Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Stopping Time: 4 hours 50 minutes