Selma on a Rainy Day

After showing the boat, I went out on a mission to find a southern-only bird, the Brown-headed Nutchatch (thanks, Smiley!) I tried and tried but constant rain kept me from wandering around the woods of Demopolis Lake. I even tried birding from the car, but it was a bust.

So, with 6 hours of daylight left, I decided to drive 45 minutes east to the town of Selma. I have been wanting to visit Selma every time I've been down here, and this rainy day would be my perfect opportunity. What an amazing city!

The sweet lady at the Chamber of Commerce said "Selma is civil. We had the Civil War and the Civil Rights." And that is exactly why I wanted to visit Selma.

Read this! (click on it to for a closer look.)

My first stop was the National Voting Rights Museum & Institute, which has documented the events surrounding the Selma to Montgomery March of 1965 and it's subsequent "Bloody Sunday." Short, short history lesson (according to the NVRM website)

On Sunday, March 7, 1965 the first march set out from Brown Chapel AME Church toward Montgomery, but was turned back just past the Edmund Pettus Bridge when marchers were brutally attacked by law enforcement officers. Two days later, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a second march from Brown Chapel toward Montgomery, but peacefully turned around at the “point” of confrontation” over the Pettus Bridge. On March 21, 1965 a third march under the protection of the National Guard, left Brown Chapel for Montgomery and five days later reached the State Capital.

Brown Chapel AME Church where the March began

I had studied the Civil Rights Movement at SEMO, and was profoundly effected the events of Bloody Sunday. I wanted to see the places with my own eyes. Crossing over the Pettus Bridge and driving down the same street where people were beaten down for peacefully walking was surreal.

Here's the photos I saw on the wall...

This is what I saw when I turned around and looked out the window...same place along the bridge. That brings it home!

What a place of history! I continued to drive around Selma in the pouring rain, being completely blown away by the enormous amount of historic houses. Honestly, I have never seen such a variety of architectural styles within one small town (and I've studied historic architecture!) I stopped and toured Sturdivant Hall, a pre-Civil War Neo-Classical house museum. Wow!

If you'd like to see the interior of the house and learn about it's ghostly history, here is a link to a short video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05SVV2fwZmc