Selma, Alabama

Selma, Alabama
Carol M. Highsmith · Public domain · source
Name	Selma
Settlement type	City
Nickname	Queen City of the Black Belt
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision type1	State
Subdivision type2	County
Subdivision name	United States
Subdivision name1	Alabama
Subdivision name2	Dallas
Established title	Founded
Established date	1815
Established title2	Incorporated
Established date2	1820
Government type	Mayor–Council
Leader title	Mayor
Leader name	James Perkins Jr.
Area total km2	37.42
Area total sq mi	14.45
Area land km2	36.25
Area land sq mi	14.00
Area water km2	1.17
Area water sq mi	0.45
Elevation m	38
Elevation ft	125
Population total	17484
Population as of	2020
Population density km2	482.3
Population density sq mi	1248.9
Timezone	Central (CST)
Utc offset	−6
Timezone DST	CDT
Utc offset DST	−5
Coordinates	32, 24, 26, N...
Postal code type	ZIP Code
Postal code	36701–36703
Area code	334
Blank name	FIPS code
Blank info	01-69120
Blank1 name	GNIS feature ID
Blank1 info	0165340
Website	https://www.selma-al.gov/

Selma, Alabama. Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama, located on the banks of the Alabama River. It is globally recognized as a pivotal site in the American Civil Rights Movement, particularly for the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches which were instrumental in the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.

History and Early Significance

Selma was founded in 1815 and incorporated in 1820. Its location on the high bluffs of the Alabama River made it a strategic transportation and commercial hub. The city became a major center for the antebellum South's plantation economy, with its fertile surrounding lands, part of the Black Belt, dedicated to cotton cultivation worked by enslaved African Americans. During the American Civil War, Selma was a crucial manufacturing and supply depot for the Confederate States of America. The Battle of Selma in April 1865 resulted in its capture by Union Army forces under James H. Wilson. In the post-war Reconstruction era, the city's economy struggled, and the imposition of Jim Crow laws entrenched a system of racial segregation and disfranchisement that would last for nearly a century.

Selma in the Civil Rights Movement

By the mid-20th century, Selma had become a focal point for civil rights activism due to its deeply entrenched white political power structure and systematic denial of voting rights to its Black majority. In Dallas County, despite African Americans comprising over half the population, only about 2% were registered to vote due to literacy tests, poll taxes, and intimidation. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) began voter registration efforts in Selma in 1963, facing violent resistance. In early 1965, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), led by Martin Luther King Jr., chose Selma for a major voting rights campaign. They collaborated with local leaders like Amelia Boynton Robinson and the Dallas County Voters League. The campaign involved mass meetings at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church and nonviolent marches to the Dallas County Courthouse, where protesters, including future Congressman John Lewis, were repeatedly arrested and assaulted.

Bloody Sunday and the Selma to Montgomery Marches

The Selma campaign culminated in three historic marches from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery, Alabama. The first, on March 7, 1965, became known as Bloody Sunday. Approximately 600 peaceful marchers, led by John Lewis and Hosea Williams, crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge and were violently attacked by Alabama State Troopers and a sheriff's posse using billy clubs, tear gas, and bullwhips. The brutal assault, broadcast nationally, galvanized public opinion. In response, Martin Luther King Jr. led a symbolic second march on March 9, turning back at the bridge under a federal court order. That night, white segregationists murdered a Unitarian minister, James Reeb, who had come to Selma to support the marchers. Following a favorable federal court ruling, the third march commenced on March 21 under the protection of the federalized Alabama National Guard and U.S. Army troops. Thousands completed the 54-mile journey, arriving in Montgomery on March 5, Alabama, Alabama| 1965, Alabama Governor of Alabama State Capitol (87, Alabama Governor of Alabama| Alabama State of Alabama|United States of Alabama|Alabama|United States of Representatives|United States Army|United States' 1965, Alabama|United States Army|United States Army|United States Army|United States Army National Guard|United States of America|United States National Archives|American Civil Rights Act of Alabama|U.S. The March 1965, Alabama|U.S. S. Army|Alabama The March 1965, Alabama|United States of 1965, Alabama|Alabama The March 1965|Alabama The third|U.S. The marches|United States of Alabama|Alabama The March 1965, Alabama|U.S. The third march|United States of 1965. The third march|Alabama The March 1965, Alabama|United States|United States of America and the United States of 1965. S. The Voting Rights Movement and Demographics and Montgomery, Alabama|Alabama The United States of 1965, Alabama|Montgomery and Montgomery|Montgomery, Alabama| Montgomery|United States|United States of Alabama|Alabama The Voting Rights Movement|Alabama The Voting Rights Movement|American Civil Rights Movement and Demographics and Montgomery marches|Alabama The user rights movement|Montgomery Marches of (1965. The third party|United States of 1965. The third march|American Civil Rights Movement. and Montgomery marches 1965. D.Civil Rights Movement, Alabama|Alabama The user-