47-622: The Edmund Pettus Bridge carries U.S. Route 80 Business (US 80 Bus.) across the Alabama River in Selma, Alabama . Built in 1940, it is named after Edmund Pettus , a former Confederate brigadier general , U.S. senator , and state-level leader (" Grand Dragon ") of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan . The bridge is a steel through arch bridge with a central span of 250 feet (76 m). Nine large concrete arches support
94-751: A U.S. Congressman , Ambassador to the United Nations , and Mayor of Atlanta , carried the Olympic flame across the bridge, accompanied by many public officials in a symbolic showing of the progress of race relations in the Southern United States . When Young spoke at the Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church as part of the torch ceremony, he said, "We couldn't have gone to Atlanta with the Olympic Games if we hadn't come through Selma
141-523: A deacon in the Baptist church. On February 18, 1965, while unarmed and participating in a peaceful voting rights march in his city, he was beaten by troopers and fatally shot by an Alabama state trooper. Jackson died eight days later in the hospital. His death helped inspire the Selma to Montgomery marches in March 1965, a major event in the civil rights movement that helped gain congressional passage of
188-415: A long time ago." In March 2015, on the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, U.S. President Barack Obama , the first African-American U.S. president, delivered a speech at the foot of the bridge and then, along with other U.S. political figures such as former U.S. President George W. Bush and Representative John Lewis, and Civil Rights Movement activists such as Amelia Boynton Robinson (at Obama's side in
235-452: A precursor to Eyes on the Prize , Dr. Dinkins recounts the actions he took in caring for Jackson and what he witnessed leading up to (and after) the death of Jackson eight days later on February 26, 1965. Dr. Dinkins believed that Jackson died as a result of an overdose of anesthesia after a white attending surgeon decided to conduct a second surgery. Sister Michael Anne, an administrator at
282-486: A prominent role in the Selma to Montgomery marches and later a congressman . Support in honor of Lewis' name increased dramatically following his death in 2020, two months after the murder of George Floyd which led to protests and numerous changes to racially controversial names across the country. Lewis had voiced opposition to changing the name of the bridge before his death. Since then, Congresswoman Terri Sewell , who
329-427: A result of Jackson's death and other violence, James Bevel , director of SCLC's Selma Voting Rights Movement, initiated and organized the first of the Selma to Montgomery marches . It was a way for citizens of Marion and Selma to direct their anger over Jackson's death and work for a positive outcome. It also was called to publicize the effort to gain voters' registration reform. Held a few days later on March 7, 1965,
376-605: A week at Zion's Chapel Methodist Church. On the night of February 18, 1965, about 500 people who were organized by the SCLC activist C. T. Vivian left Zion United Methodist Church in Marion and attempted a peaceful walk to the Perry County jail, about a half a block away, where young civil-rights worker James Orange was being held. The marchers planned to sing hymns and return to the church. Police later said that they believed
423-517: A wheelchair), led a march across the bridge. An estimated 40,000 people attended to commemorate the 1965 march, and to reflect on and speak about its impact on history and continuing efforts to address and improve U.S. civil rights. After civil rights leader and U.S. Congressman John Lewis died in July 2020, calls rose to rename the bridge after him, though Lewis—in an editorial with Representative Terri Sewell —had previously voiced opposition to renaming
470-422: Is U.S. representative of the area encompassing Selma and coauthored the press release in 2015 with John Lewis opposing the renaming of the bridge, has come out supporting the renaming of the bridge, saying "We must confront and reject Alabama’s racist history and come together to implement the bold changes needed to ensure our nation finally lives up to its promise of equality and justice for all." An earlier bridge
517-502: Is about 265 miles (426 km) long – is prevented by shoals and a 60-foot (18 m) fall at Tallassee , a few miles north of its junction with the Coosa. The Alabama is navigable throughout the year. The river played an important role in the growth of the economy in the region during the 19th century as a source of transportation of goods, which included slaves. The river is still used for transportation of farming produce; however, it
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#1732772404278564-428: Is improbable that Jackson served in that war, and claims that he served overseas are unattributed.) After moving back to his hometown from Indiana, Jackson worked as a laborer and a woodcutter, earning six dollars each day he worked. Ordained in the summer of 1964, Jackson was the youngest deacon of his St. James Baptist Church in Marion. Jackson had tried to register to vote for four years, without success, under
611-622: Is located at river mile 236.2, the Millers Ferry Lock & Dam is located at river mile 133.0, and the Claiborne Lock & Dam is located at river mile 72.5. These dams create R.E. "Bob" Woodruff Lake, William Dannely Reservoir, and Claiborne Lake respectively. Jimmie Lee Jackson Jimmie Lee Jackson (December 16, 1938 – February 26, 1965) was an African American civil rights activist in Marion, Alabama , and
658-669: Is not as important as it once was due to the construction of roads and railways. Documented by Europeans first in 1701, the Alabama, Coosa, and Tallapoosa rivers were central to the homeland of the Creek Indians before their removal by United States forces to the Indian Territory in the 1830s. The Alabama River has three lock and dams between Montgomery and the Mobile River. The Robert F. Henry Lock & Dam
705-559: The Alabama State Capitol . Alabama River The Alabama River , in the U.S. state of Alabama , is formed by the Tallapoosa and Coosa rivers, which unite about 6 miles (10 km) north of Montgomery , near the town of Wetumpka . Over a course of approximately 319 miles (513 km), the river meanders west towards Selma , then southwest until, about 45 miles (72 km) from Mobile , it unites with
752-605: The Anniston Star that he had shot Jackson in 1965, saying that it was in self defense. As part of an effort to prosecute civil rights-era crimes, on May 10, 2007, 42 years after the crime, the recently elected District Attorney for Perry County charged Fowler on counts of first degree and second-degree murder for Jackson's death, and he surrendered to authorities. On November 15, 2010, Fowler pleaded guilty to manslaughter and apologized publicly for killing Jackson, expressing remorse. He said he had acted in self-defense. He
799-483: The Selma Voting Rights Movement . Amelia Boynton , who had helped organize the march as well as participated in it, was beaten unconscious. A photograph of her lying on Edmund Pettus Bridge appeared on the front page of newspapers and news magazines around the world. In all, 17 marchers were hospitalized and 50 were treated for lesser injuries; the day soon became known as "Bloody Sunday" within
846-619: The Tombigbee , forming the Mobile and Tensaw rivers, which discharge into Mobile Bay . The run of the Alabama is highly meandering. Its width varies from 50 to 200 yards (46 to 183 m), and its depth from 3 to 40 feet (1 to 12 m). Its length as measured by the United States Geological Survey is 318.5 miles (512.6 km), and by steamboat measurement, 420 miles (680 km). The river crosses
893-590: The Voting Rights Act of 1965 . This enabled millions of African Americans to vote again in Alabama and across the Southern United States , regaining participation as citizens in the political system for the first time since the turn of the 20th century. Most had been disenfranchised since then by state constitutions and discriminatory practices that made voter registration and voting more difficult. In 2005, former Alabama State Trooper James Bonard Fowler admitted that he had shot Jackson, in what he said
940-505: The African-American community. Since 1965, many marches have commemorated the events of Bloody Sunday. On its 30th anniversary, Rep. John Lewis , former president of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and a prominent activist during the Selma to Montgomery marches, said, "It's gratifying to come back and see the changes that have occurred; to see the number of registered voters and the number of Black elected officials in
987-563: The Alabama Ku Klux Klan , and U.S. senator. Because of Pettus' role in supporting slavery and racism in the United States , there have been efforts to rename the bridge, including one coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches in 2015. Changing the name would require approval from the Alabama Legislature . One proposed alternative namesake is John Lewis , a civil rights leader who played
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#17327724042781034-531: The Baptist church. He was named after his father. After his father died when Jackson was 18 years old, he took over working on and managing the family farm. He also had a daughter. Although many sources claim he was an army veteran, and some say that he served in the Vietnam War , his family disputes that he was ever in the military. (The first U.S. ground troops arrived in Vietnam on March 8, 1965 , so it
1081-457: The bridge and roadway on the east side. The Edmund Pettus Bridge was the site of the conflict of Bloody Sunday on March 7, 1965, when police attacked Civil Rights Movement demonstrators with horses, billy clubs, and tear gas as they were attempting to march to the state capital, Montgomery . The marchers crossed the bridge again on March 21 and walked to the Capitol building . The bridge
1128-553: The bridge, stating: "Keeping the name of the Bridge is not an endorsement of the man who bears its name but rather an acknowledgement that the name of the Bridge today is synonymous with the Voting Rights Movement which changed the face of this nation and the world." Part of the funeral procession for Lewis included transporting his casket across the bridge in a caisson en route to Montgomery, where he lay in repose at
1175-568: The café. Before his death, Jackson was served with an arrest warrant by Col. Al Lingo , head of the Alabama State Police. The Alabama State Senate responded to national criticism and "formally denounced charges of dereliction by Lingo's Troopers in Marion." Dr. William Dinkins first attended Jackson when he arrived at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Selma . In a 1979 interview for America, They Loved You Madly,
1222-420: The crowd was planning a jailbreak. Among the marchers were Jackson, his 16-year-old sister, Emma Jean, mother, and maternal grandfather Cager Lee. They were met at the post office by a line of Marion police officers, county sheriff's deputies, and Alabama state troopers. During the standoff, streetlights were abruptly turned off (some sources say they were shot out by the police), and the police began to beat
1269-524: The discriminatory system maintained by Alabama officials since the turn of the 20th century. His mother Viola and maternal grandfather Cager Lee had also attempted to register, also unsuccessfully. Jackson was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. , who had come with other Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) staff to nearby Selma, Alabama , to help local activists in their voter registration campaign. Jackson attended meetings several nights
1316-699: The federal government; it was passed by Congress as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 . After the act was passed, Jimmie Lee Jackson's grandfather Cager Lee, who had marched with him in February 1965 in Marion, registered and voted for the first time at the age of 84. In 2015 the Marion to Selma Connecting Trail was designated to connect the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail with the site of Jackson's death. A grand jury declined to indict Fowler in September 1965, identifying him only by his surname. In 2005, Fowler admitted in an interview with John Fleming of
1363-425: The floor in the kitchen; when Viola attempted to pull the police off, she was also beaten. When Jackson tried to protect his mother, one trooper threw him against a cigarette machine. A second trooper shot Jackson twice in the abdomen. It was not until 2005 that trooper James Bonard Fowler was publicly associated with the shooting. In an interview with The Anniston Star , he admitted to shooting Jackson, saying it
1410-558: The hospital, later said there were powder burns on Jackson's abdomen, indicating that he was shot at very close range. Jackson was honored at his memorial service, eulogized as a martyr to a moral cause. He was buried in Heard Cemetery, an old slave burial ground, next to his father. His headstone was paid for by the Perry County Civic League. In the decades since, his headstone has been vandalized, bearing
1457-516: The march became known as " Bloody Sunday " because of the violent response of state troopers and the county sheriff's posse, who attacked and beat the protesters after they walked over the Edmund Pettus Bridge , leaving the city of Selma and entering the county. The events were widely covered and attracted international attention, raising widespread support for the voting rights campaign. The federal government committed itself to protect
Edmund Pettus Bridge - Misplaced Pages Continue
1504-515: The marchers. In the third march to Montgomery, which began on March 21, protesters were protected by federal troops and Alabama National Guard forces under federal command. They traveled the entire way, gathering more marchers along the route. A total of 25,000 people peacefully entered the city, the largest civil rights event in the city. In March 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced his federal bill to support voting rights by authorizing federal oversight of local practices and enforcement by
1551-593: The marks of at least one shotgun blast. Two memorial services were held for Jimmie Lee Jackson. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke at one, saying, Jimmie Lee Jackson’s death says to us that we must work passionately and unrelentingly to make the American dream a reality. His death must prove that unmerited suffering does not go unredeemed. We must not be bitter and we must not harbor ideas of retaliating with violence. We must not lose faith in our white brothers. As
1598-654: The mineral region of Alabama and is navigable for light-draft boats from Rome, Georgia , to about 117 miles (188 km) above Wetumpka (about 102 miles (164 km) below Rome and 26 miles (42 km) below Greensport), and from Wetumpka to its junction with the Tallapoosa. The channel of the river has been considerably improved by the federal government. The navigation of the Tallapoosa River – which has its source in Paulding County, Georgia , and
1645-603: The police while at the center of the bridge, 100 feet (30 m) above the Alabama River. Upon seeing them, protester Hosea Williams asked his fellow protester John Lewis if he knew how to swim. Despite the danger ahead, the protesters bravely continued marching. They were then attacked and brutally beaten by police and the state troopers on the other side. Televised images of the attack presented Americans and international audiences with horrifying images of marchers left bloodied and severely injured, and roused support for
1692-458: The protesters. Among those beaten were two United Press International photographers, whose cameras were smashed, and NBC News correspondent Richard Valeriani , who was beaten so badly that he was hospitalized. The marchers turned and scattered back toward the church. Jackson, his sister, his mother Viola Jackson, and his 82-year-old grandfather Cager Lee, ran into Mack's Café behind the church, pursued by state troopers. Police clubbed Lee to
1739-529: The richest agricultural and timber districts of the state. Railways connect it with the mineral regions of north-central Alabama. After the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, the principal tributary of the Alabama is the Cahaba River , which is about 194 miles (312 km) long and joins the Alabama River about 10 miles (16 km) below Selma. The Alabama River's main tributary, the Coosa River, crosses
1786-414: The river, the west side of the bridge is higher than the east side. The center of the bridge is 100 ft (30 m) over the river. In 2011, the bridge was listed as functionally obsolete , meaning that it does not meet current design standards for its current traffic load. The bridge is named after Edmund Pettus , a lawyer, judge, Confederate brigadier general, state-level leader (" Grand Dragon ") of
1833-419: The state highway. On March 7, 1965, armed police attacked the unarmed peaceful civil rights demonstrators attempting to march to the state capital of Montgomery in an incident that became known as Bloody Sunday . Because of the design of the bridge, the protesters were unable to see the police officers on the east side of the bridge until after they had reached the top of the bridge. The protesters first saw
1880-613: The state of Alabama to be able to walk with other members of Congress that are African Americans." On the 40th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, over 10,000 people, including Lewis, again marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The 1996 Summer Olympics torch relay made its way across the bridge on its way to the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta . Andrew Young , a Bloody Sunday organizer who went on to become
1927-498: Was built in 1885 by the Milwaukee Bridge & Iron Works one block east of the current bridge to carry traffic over the river at the foot of Washington Street. It was an iron camelback truss bridge with three spans, supported on stone piers. The northernmost span swung open to allow boats to pass. It had to be operated by a bridge tender, whose house remains at the bridge site to the present day. The Edmund Pettus Bridge
Edmund Pettus Bridge - Misplaced Pages Continue
1974-410: Was declared a National Historic Landmark on February 27, 2013. The bridge carries four lanes of U.S. Route 80 Business (formerly the mainline U.S. Route 80 ) over the Alabama River, from Selma on the west side, to points east. The bridge has a total of 11 spans. It has 10 smaller concrete spans, while the main span in the center, over the river, is made of steel. Because Selma is built on a bluff over
2021-459: Was designed by Selma native Henson Stephenson and opened to traffic in 1940. In 1965, voting rights for African Americans were a contentious issue. In Selma, voting rolls were 99% White and 1% African American, while the 1960 Census found that the population of Alabama was 30% nonwhite. In February 1965, state troopers and locals in Marion, Alabama, started an armed confrontation with some 400 African-American unarmed demonstrators. Jimmie Lee Jackson
2068-466: Was self-defense soon after street lights had gone out and a melee had broken out. Former trooper Fowler was indicted in 2007 in Jackson's death. In 2010, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He was sentenced to six months in prison. Jimmie Lee Jackson was born in 1938 in Marion, Alabama , the county seat of Perry County, to Jimmie Lee Jackson and Viola Jackson, a local farming family. They all belonged to
2115-404: Was self-defense, as he thought Jackson was going for his gun. The wounded Jackson left the café, suffering additional blows by the police, and collapsed in front of the bus station. He was taken to the hospital. In the presence of FBI officials at the hospital, Jackson told lawyer Oscar Adams , of Birmingham , that he was "clubbed down" by state troopers after he was shot and had escaped from
2162-443: Was sentenced to six months in jail. Arguing that the sentence was too weak, Perry County commissioner Albert Turner, Jr., a civil rights leader, said the agreement was "a slap in the face of the people of this county". Because of health problems requiring surgery, Fowler was released after serving five months. In the 2014 drama film Selma , directed by Ava DuVernay , Jackson was portrayed by LaKeith Stanfield . The film depicts
2209-531: Was shot in the stomach, and he died eight days later. As word spread of the shooting and of Jackson's condition, the case alarmed civil rights activists, including Martin Luther King Jr. and SCLC's Director of Direct Action James Bevel . Director Bevel planned a peaceful march from Selma to the Alabama capitol building in Montgomery, which first required crossing the Pettus bridge leading out of Selma and onto
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