We woke up to rain on Sunday morning. Not a good sign as most of our plans are outside. We packed up the room, ate breakfast and made a quick stop on our way out of Atlanta - Chick-fil-A Headquarters. As I mentioned, it was Sunday and raining...so we opted for a quick picture by the sign (from the van).
As we were heading southwest, into Alabama...we were met with a warm front. The van windows instantly steamed up on the outside and the rain pretty much stopped. We watched the outside temp go up 15° in a few miles! It was one of the craziest things we've ever driven through!
As we came closer to the Alabama border, Matt told the kids to get ready for a picture. I soon heard "Sweet Home Alabama" coming from one of the kids. I found the song on my phone and we sang along as we passed from Georgia into Alabama.
First stop for the day -
Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site. We assumed that this Site would be open all weekend, but we were wrong! It was closed for the day! Luckily, the grounds were open so we enjoyed walking around and seeing the outbuildings and reading the boards. We were bummed to miss out on seeing the planes inside the hanger though.
Back in the van, we headed to Tuskegee University - founded by Booker T Washington in 1881. Both Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver are buried in a small cemetery located on the school grounds.
We left Tuskegee and traveled to Montgomery for a few hours of pure history.
We knew that Montgomery would be relatively quiet since it was a Sunday and we would be downtown, in the heart of the governmental district. We were right! It was nice to pull up to a stop and do things at our own pace (and not have to feed the parking meters). We visited the Rosa Parks Museum and found that they were closed for the day. We made the most of our time though and enjoyed the day while reading and remembering.
The spot where Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat...
Found this little guy - out for a Sunday stroll ON the building.
Frank M. Johnson, Federal Judge served at the building below. He was a great example of a white judge doing what was right in the south during some tumultuous years. Anyone, no matter the color of their skin, who stood before Judge Frank M Johnson would get a fair trial.
From Wikipedia; "Frank Minis Johnson Jr. (October 30, 1918 – July 23, 1999) was a United States Federal judge, serving 1955 to 1999 at the District and Appeals Court levels. He made landmark civil rights rulings that helped end segregation and disenfranchisement of African Americans in the South. In the words of journalist and historian Bill Moyers, Judge Johnson 'altered forever the face of the South.'"
Right behind the courthouse is the Greyhound Bus Station that was segregated, as well as a stop for the Freedom Riders that were met with violent resistance to their efforts. Of all the stops on this trip, this was the most moving for me. The time line and stories displayed on the building were very well put together and made you feel like you were there - the quotes, the stories, the pictures - documented well. I still shake my head at the ugliness of society and people.
In the picture below, you can see the boarded up door - "Colored Entrance". The sign states that there were separate entrances, restrooms, waiting areas, lunch & ticket counters. If a "colored" person entered a "white" person area, they would be arrested. Ugly, Ugly, Ugly...This stop was sobering to say the least.
We found a spot to park a bit closer to the Capitol Building. Dexter Ave Baptist Church was our next stop (according to our handy dandy GPS!). We had no clue that this church was one block from the Capital Bldg.
Dexter Avenue Baptist Church -- where Martin Luther King, Jr was a pastor of the church from 1954 to 1960, and organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott from his basement office.
By mere coincidence, we happened to visit Montgomery the 53rd anniversary, to the day, of the marchers arrival from Selma.
This is a cross walk that honors the marchers before the capitol building.
Here are a few pictures from the actual march to Montgomery (from Selma).
"At the end of the third march from Selma to Montgomery, 25,000 people gathered on the steps of the Capitol to hear Dr. King deliver his famous speech, 'How Long, Not Long.' The building, which housed Gov. George Wallace’s office, has been rehabilitated and restored to its original appearance." -- Civil Rights Trail Web Site
“'… until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”'Dr. King’s famous paraphrase of Amos 5:24 is chiseled into the black granite of the Civil Rights Memorial, a moving tribute to those who died in the civil rights struggle between 1954 and 1968. Created by Vietnam Memorial architect Maya Lin in 1989" -- Civil Rights Trail Web Site
It was so nice to see green and flowers! The weather was beautiful - a bit hot even! We were all ready to sit in the van and cool down for a bit after being out in the sun (84°), walking in the heat. Yet back home, we were getting hit by another snow storm!!
First White House of the Confederacy, where President Jefferson Davis and his family lived.
Holt Street Baptist Church -
"On the evening of Dec. 5, 1955, in the aftermath of Rosa Parks’ arrest, 5,000 people gathered at Holt Street Baptist Church. They filled the sanctuary, the basement auditorium and even spilled outside to hear the newly elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His stirring speech advocating action without violence gave rise to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Holt Street Baptist Church is still active today within the Montgomery community." --The Civil Right Trail Web Site
Rosa Parks wrote:
"By the time I arrived at the meeting, the church was so filled up that a crowd of hundreds spilled out into the street, and speakers had to be set up outside to accommodate everyone. The excitement around the church was electrifying, and I remember having a sense that something powerful was being born. I squeezed my way through the crowd to my seat on the platform, where a lively discussion about the boycott strategy was underway."
We left Montgomery with plans to head to our hotel for the night. As we sat in the van finding our hotel on the GPS, we discussed the possibility of heading to Selma then to the hotel. Selma Highway and Selma weren't on our agenda until the next morning but thanks to a lot (all!) of the museums being closed on Sunday, we had a lot of time to spare. Because we had plenty of daylight left and the weather was nice so we decided to head there.
Driving the Selma/Jefferson Davis Highway, we came across the camp sites where the marchers spent the night as they made their way to Montgomery. From Selma to Montgomery is 54 miles - the marchers did this march in 4 days. They walked approx. 10 miles each day - camping along the way.
We stopped at the Lowndes Interpretive Center - a wonderful center (closed for the day!) that had many informative plaques and a beautiful setting to walk around.
This is a unique gate.
The gate itself, the giant arch, represents the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma- the starting point for the Marches for voting rights. In the middle of the gate is a tent city, that leads to the capitol building. This one gate symbolizes the Selma to Montgomery Marches -- beginning, middle, and end.
We arrived in Selma, snapped this picture, then drove across the bridge. We found a place to park then snapped more pictures by the bridge...then walked across it.
Matt was curious about who Edmund Pettus was. As per Wikipedia;
"Edmund Winston Pettus (July 6, 1821 – July 27, 1907) was an American lawyer, soldier, and legislator. He served as a Confederate general during the American Civil War, during which he was captured three times. After the war he was a Grand Dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan and a Democratic U.S. Senator.
The Edmund Pettus Bridge across the Alabama River in Selma, Alabama, was named in his honor, ironically later becoming a landmark of the Civil Rights Movement."
We ended our time in Selma by driving by the Brown Chapel. "Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, the first AME church in Alabama, was the site of preparations for the march to Montgomery on March 7, 1965, a day that became known as Bloody Sunday. The church also served as a refuge for injured marchers. Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1997, the church is still in use today." -- Civil Rights Trail Web Site
We arrived at our hotel, picked up dinner and enjoyed a quiet evening watching TV and getting caught up on emails and looking through our pictures. We were so glad that we decided to travel to Selma - that helped reduce our Monday travel by 3 hours!
