PHILLIP RAWLS
Associated Press
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — As the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march approaches, the National Park Service has chosen Alabama State University as a location for exhibits honoring the historic 1965 march and its impact on American government.
The park service and university President Gwendolyn Boyd signed a memorandum of understanding Monday for the construction of an interpretive center on a grassy lawn next to the university’s new football stadium.
On March 7, 1965, marchers set out from Selma to seek voting rights for disenfranchised blacks. The marchers were beaten by law enforcement on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in what became known as “Bloody Sunday.” Later, with federal protection, about 25,000 marchers completed the trek. The events led Congress to pass the 1965 Voting Rights Act, helping integrate governments in the South.
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