Selma to Montgomery marches

==Legacy and honors==
* In 1996, the 54-mile [[Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail]] was designated and is preserved by the [[National Park Service]].<ref>[http://www.nps.gov/semo/historyculture/index.htm "History and Culture: Selma-to-Montgomery National Historic Trail], National Park Service.</ref> As part of the National Historic Trail, the National Park Service operates three interpretive centers (Selma, Lowndes County, and [[Alabama State University]] in Montgomery).
* In February 2015, both houses of Congress voted for a resolution to award [[Congressional Gold Medal]]s to the "foot soldiers" of the Selma campaign. In a later ceremony, two dozen individuals in Selma received certificates.<ref name="ari">[http://www.thenation.com/article/199217/fifty-years-after-march-selma-everything-and-nothing-has-changed Ari Berman, "Fifty Years After Bloody Sunday in Selma, Everything and Nothing Has Changed"], ''The Nation'', February 25, 2015, accessed March 12, 2015.</ref> Barack Obama signed the resolution in law on March 7.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nj.com/politics/2015/03/obama_signs_booker-sponsored_bill_to_give_selma_ma.html|title=Obama signs Booker-sponsored bill to give Selma marchers Congressional Gold Medal|last=Salant|first=Jonathan D.|date=2015-03-07|website=nj.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-05}}</ref> The award ceremony officially took place on February 24, 2016, at the [[US Capitol]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nj.com/politics/2016/02/selma_marchers_get_congressional_gold_medal_with_b.html|title=Selma civil rights marchers get Congressional Gold Medal with Booker's help|last=Salant|first=Jonathan D.|date=2016-02-25|website=nj.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-05}}</ref> Surviving marchers [[John Lewis]] and [[Frederick Reese]] accepted medals on behalf of the Selma marchers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newsone.com/3359436/selma-foot-soldiers-receive-the-congressional-gold-medal/|title=Selma "Foot Soldiers" Receive The Congressional Gold Medal|date=2016-02-25|website=News One|language=en|access-date=2019-07-05}}</ref>

===Commemorative marches===
Since 1965, many marches have commemorated the events of Bloody Sunday, usually held on or around the anniversary of the original event, and currently known as the Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.al.com/news/2018/12/alabamas-iconic-civil-rights-town-now-the-fastest-shrinking-city-in-the-state.html|title=Alabama's iconic civil rights town now the fastest shrinking city in the state|last=Garrison|first=Greg|date=2018-12-16|website=al.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-05}}</ref> In March 1975, [[Coretta Scott King]], the widow of Martin Luther King Jr., led four thousand marchers commemorating Bloody Sunday.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Christian Herald|last1=Klopsch|first1=Louis|last2=Talmage|first2=Thomas De Witt|last3=Sandison|first3=George Henry|date=1975|publisher=Christian Herald}}</ref> 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 the state of Alabama to be able to walk with other members of Congress that are African Americans."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bTkDAAAAMBAJ&q="edmund+pettus+bridge"&pg=PA22|title=Jet |via= Google Books|date=1995|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|access-date=2010-08-22}}</ref>

On the 40th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, over 10,000 people, including Lewis, again marched across Edmund Pettus Bridge.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QrUDAAAAMBAJ&q="edmund+pettus+bridge"&pg=PA6|title=Jet |via=Google Books|date=2005|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|access-date=2010-08-22}}</ref> Also, in 1996, the Olympic torch made its way across the bridge with its carrier, [[Andrew Young]], along with many public officials, to symbolize how far the South has come. When Young spoke at the [[Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church (Selma, Alabama)|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 a long time ago."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/21819607.html?dids=21819607:21819607&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+01,+1996&author=Thomas+Heath&pub=The+Washington+Post+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29&desc=After+Three+Decades,+Selma+Sees+the+Light;+Torch+Crosses+Bridge+Between+Peace,+Violence&pqatl=google|title=After Three Decades, Selma Sees the Light; Torch Crosses Bridge Between Peace, Violence|last=Heath|first=Thomas|date=1996-07-01|access-date=2010-08-22|publisher=Pqasb.pqarchiver.com|archive-date=October 26, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026075630/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/21819607.html?dids=21819607:21819607&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+01,+1996&author=Thomas+Heath&pub=The+Washington+Post+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=After+Three+Decades,+Selma+Sees+the+Light%3B+Torch+Crosses+Bridge+Between+Peace,+Violence&pqatl=google|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In March 2015, on the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, U.S. President [[Barack Obama]], the first African-American U.S. president, delivered [[Barack Obama Selma 50th anniversary speech|a speech at the foot of the bridge]] and then, along with former U.S. President [[George W. Bush]], Representative John Lewis, and Civil Rights Movement activists such as [[Amelia Boynton Robinson]] (at Obama's side in 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/08/us/obama-in-selma-for-edmund-pettus-bridge-attack-anniversary.html|title=Obama, at Selma Memorial, Says, 'We Know the March Is Not Yet Over'|last1=Baker|first1=Peter|date=March 7, 2015|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 10, 2015|last2=Fausset|first2=Richard|issue=March 7, 2015}}</ref>

After John Lewis died in July 2020, he managed to cross the bridge one last time when his casket, which was carried by a horse-drawn caisson, crossed along the same route he walked during the [[Selma to Montgomery marches#"Bloody Sunday" events|Bloody Sunday]] march.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/26/us/selma-john-lewis-memorial.html|title=Selma Helped Define John Lewis's Life. In Death, He Returned One Last Time.|first=Rick|last=Rojas|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 26, 2020|access-date=July 28, 2020}}</ref>

===Revitalization===
Montgomery was one of four state capitals chosen for a Greening Americas Capitals Grant, a project of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Department of Transportation. Beginning in 2011, EPA and community groups developed the study through consultations and a 3-day design workshops, aided by nationally acclaimed urban planners.<ref name="green">[http://www.epa.gov/dced/pdf/gac/montgomery_gac_final.pdf "Greening the Selma to Montgomery Trail: Reconnecting and Remembering"], ''Greening American Capitals'', EPA.</ref>
The Montgomery portion of the Selma to Montgomery trail was being improved through a multimillion-dollar investment in order to enhance the trail and related neighborhoods. The city chose a section that passes through a "historically significant African-American neighborhood".<ref name="green"/> Projects planned to improve design and sustainability include infill development, resurfacing, pedestrian improvements, environmental improvements including new trees and green-screens, and drainage improvements. In addition, many information panels have been installed, as well as several permanent public art displays that are tied to the march.<ref name="green"/>
 
The work in Montgomery is related to a larger multi-agency effort since 2009 between the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), EPA and the National Park Service to improve areas along the National Historic Voting Rights Trail to enable local communities to thrive. The US 80 corridor has been described in an EPA summary as a "54-mile corridor of high unemployment, health issues, lower educational and economic achievements, and severe rural isolation".<ref name="epacomm"/> Among the serious environmental issues identified by EPA has been the presence of active and abandoned gas stations along the highway, with potential contamination from petroleum leaks from underground storage sites. A site in Montgomery had been identified as a problem, and EPA conducted additional assessments since the beginning of the project. Cleanup of the Montgomery site was scheduled to be completed in 2011. In addition, the agencies have sponsored community engagement to develop plans related to community goals. Since 2010, federal teams have met with community leaders in Selma, Hayneville and Montgomery, the county seats of Dallas, Lowndes and Montgomery counties.<ref name="epacomm">[http://www.epa.gov/oust/communityengagement/ce_story_al_final_9-7-10.pdf "Community Engagement At Leaking Underground Storage Tank Sites: National Historic Voting Rights Trail Selma To Montgomery, Alabama"], EPA, July 9, 2010. Retrieved March 14, 2015.</ref>