Digital Media Center
Bryant-Denny Stadium, Gate 61
920 Paul Bryant Drive
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0370
(800) 654-4262

© 2024 Alabama Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Alabama Prepares for 50th Anniversary of Voting March

Southern Christian Leadership Conference President Charles Steele, state Sen. Hank Sanders and others announced Wednesday that Selma's annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee will be expanded for the 50th anniversary in March.
bcjubilee.org
Southern Christian Leadership Conference President Charles Steele, state Sen. Hank Sanders and others announced Wednesday that Selma's annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee will be expanded for the 50th anniversary in March.

The 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march is a year away, and both cities are making plans to draw big crowds next year. Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange, County Commission Chairman Elton Dean and Alabama State University President Gwendolyn Boyd announced Tuesday that Montgomery is planning two big weekends of events that they expect to draw thousands. In Selma, a founder of the annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee, state Sen. Hank Sanders, says next year's celebration will be the biggest ever, with more than 50 events. Both cities are already trying to get the president to attend. The voting rights march began on March 7, 1965, with 600 protesters being beaten by law enforcement officers on Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge. The march ended peacefully in Montgomery on March 25, 1965.

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.
News from Alabama Public Radio is a public service in association with the University of Alabama. We depend on your help to keep our programming on the air and online. Please consider supporting the news you rely on with a donation today. Every contribution, no matter the size, propels our vital coverage. Thank you.