America's Byways® Press Room
March 7, 2005 - Commemoration of 40th Anniversary of Voting Rights March
Washington DC. - DC—On March 7, the U.S. Department of Transportation hosted the 40th Anniversary Commemoration for the Selma To Montgomery March. The story of the historic 1965 Voting Rights March and the experience of the Civil Rights Movement reflect the essence of the Selma to Montgomery Byway.
The “Selma to Montgomery Byway stands as a reminder for all Americans as to what was achieved so very long ago.” U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Norman Mineta, used these words to open his address at the Commemoration event in Washington DC.
Congressman John Lewis (GA-7) was born in Troy, Alabama, 50 miles south of Montgomery. Congressman Lewis chaired the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee from 1963 to 1965. SNNC had a significant role in organizing the March. Congressman Lewis walked with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other leaders of the March. The Congressman addressed the audience and noted that “transportation has played a major role in the struggle for civil rights,” referring to Rosa Parks and her historic protest on local buses in Montgomery, the desegregation of bus and train terminals, and the civil rights marches on the roads and highways.
The commemorative event continued with Eugene Johnson, retired FHWA, and the first Director of the National Scenic Byways Program. He told us that the Selma to Montgomery Byway was the first Byway to be “designated for its historical significance” and that it is “a piece of Americana that resonates today.” The final speaker, Donald Murphy, Deputy Director for the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, spoke of the “moral authority” gained through the courageous 1965 events.
A collection of photos and other materials commemorating the 1965 Voting Rights March are on display outside Secretary Mineta’s office in the Washington DC Department of Transportation building on 7th Street, SW. The photos are from Spider Martin’s poignant collection of the March. Other materials on display include the America’s Byways™ map, the National Historic and Scenic Trails map, and a 1997 Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Highway Administration and the National Park Service “to maintain, enhance, and interpret the national historic significance of the highway, of the events associated with the 1965 Voting Rights March, of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil rights advocates who marched along the route.” The maps illustrate the living legend of the March though the designation of the road in 1996 as an All-American Road and a National Historic Trail.
Rob Draper, FHWA’s Team Leader for Byways, Bike-Ped, Trails and Enhancement served on the Departmental planning committee, which organized the commemorative program and the accompanying photo exhibit.
