Historical Trails & Landmarks in Alabama

The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail was established by Congress in 1996 to commemorate the events, people, and route of the 1965 Voting Rights March in Alabama. The route is also designated as a National Scenic Byway/All-American Road.

Civil Rights activists converged on Selma, Alabama after the long crusade for voting rights culminated in March 1965 with three strategically planned marches.  The final push to achieve a nationwide solution to the disenfranchisement of African Americans resulted in almost 500 marchers who proceeded through the streets of Selma and across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Here they were faced by scores of Alabama State troopers. The troopers attacked the non-violent marchers, leaving many of them bloodied and severely injured, on a date forever ensconced in history as " Bloody Sunday".

A second march ended in a prayer session at the point of Sunday's confrontation. When an injunction circumventing the march to the Alabama State Capitol was reversed thousands of people, representing many races and nationalities, demonstrated again to secure the right to vote. The five-day/four-night event covered a 54-mile route along state Highway 80 through chilling weather and rain. The result was the personal triumph of those who participated in the historic trek and the signing of the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965.

Today, the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail stands as a testament to the sacrifices made in the triumph to preserve the right to vote as the bedrock of American democracy.