-Alabama, Black History, Cemeteries, National Register of Historic Places, Signs

The Selma to Montgomery March Highway Sites

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In March 1965, there were three attempts to march from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery, Alabama, to secure voting rights for Black Americans. The final successful attempt began on Sunday, March 21, 1965, with 3,000 people walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to start the march and ending at the steps of the Alabama Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, on Thursday, March 25.

The first campsite was located approximately 7.8 miles away from Selma on the land of David Hall. One of the homes still stands today. From this campsite, many people returned to Selma because the highway was narrowing and Lowndes County had imposed limits on the marchers’ movement through the county. You can read a fuller history of Campsite One here.

The march from the first campsite to Rosie Steele’s farm was just over fifteen miles. Ms. Steele was a farmer and general store owner. Unfortunately, her home and store were lost in a fire in 1967. (I searched and could not find whether this was an accidental fire or arson. If anyone knows, please message me.)

For a fuller description on the Rosie Steele farm, please read the National Park Service’s information on the site.

The next campsite was just over 12.5 miles away. The marchers were drenched after spending the day in the rain. When they arrived at the final campsite, the grounds were incredibly muddy. Robert Gardner put down hay and tried to improve the conditions of the campsite. For a fuller story on Campsite 3, please read the National Park Service’s information.

The final campsite was in Montgomery, Alabama, at the City of St. Jude, a Black Catholic church.

Viola Liuzzo

Along the route is a memorial to Viola Liuzzo, a white woman who was murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan. She and Anthony Moton, a 19-year-old Black man, were shuttling marchers back to Selma from Montgomery. They stopped in Lowndes County to get gas, where they were met with threats. Once back on the road, four Klansmen pursued them, attempted to run them off the road, and fired into their car, killing Liuzzo. Thankfully, Moton was not injured. Covered in Liuzzo’s blood, he remained motionless, causing the Klansmen to assume he was dead as well. After they left, Moton was able to flag down help.

The murderers were captured within 24 hours and were found guilty of their crimes.

-Alabama, Black History, Houses

Amelia Boynton’s Home in Selma, Alabama

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The historic bungalow located on Lapsley Street was built in 1916 was initially owned by Booker T. Washington. Later owned by the Amelia and Samuel Boynton, the home played a significant role in the Civil Rights Movement. The home served as a hub for civil rights leaders during the Selma voting rights campaign. Civil rights illuminaries, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Andrew Young, Diane Nash, C.T. Vivian, and Bernard Lafayette, gathered here. The first draft of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was written here.

The house is listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage, years of neglect have left it in severe disrepair. After acquiring the property in 2008, the Gateway Educational Foundation completed emergency repairs but the building remains at risk. The foundation hopes to restore the home and transform it into a museum that will celebrate Selma’s civil rights history,

Amelia Platts Boynton Robinson

2015 image from Wikipedia

Amelia Platts Boynton Robinson was a widow at the time of the 1965 marches from Selma to Montgomery, as her husband died two years previous. She was one of the organizers of the march. On Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965, she was towards the front of the marchers where she was beaten unconscious by a white police officer. Photographs of her were featured in newspapers across the world. She later joined President Lyndon B. Johnson for the signing of the federal Voting Rights Act.

Mrs. Robinson remain involved in politics and civil rights until she passed in 2015 at the age of 110.

For a fuller biography, please read her entry on Wikipedia.

-South Carolina, Cemeteries, Churches and Temples

Dothan Methodist Church-Morgana Community, South Carolina

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Built in 1885 in the Morgana Community near Clarks Hill, South Carolina, the Dothan Methodist Church was active until the 1930s. For a fuller history, you can read more at the South Carolina Picture Project.

There is a small adjacent cemetery that resembles most rural Southern cemeteries. There is one headstone that stood out. It was the grave of Marjorie “Jerry” Scott, a woman who served as an ensign during World War II. She served as a codebreaker. You can read more about her in her obituary. It is estimated of the 10,000 women who served in the war, almost half helped decipher codes on behalf of the United States.

-Georgia, Black History, Cemeteries, Churches and Temples, Vernacular Headstones

Documenting O’Neal AME Church Cemetery in Hampton, Georgia

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In 2024, I photographed the ruins of the O’Neal AME Church. At the time, I had not realized the cemetery was across the street, hidden in the woods. Recently, the cemetery has been under threat because a massive data center is being built around it. My friend and I decided to visit the cemetery. We were both interested in seeing how close the clearing for the data center was to the property lines and wanting to document any remaining headstones.

We walked the boundary lines of the cemetery. First, the cemetery is completely fenced in, with an approximately 75-foot buffer.

One of the vernacular markers in the cemetery

The cemetery itself was abandoned long ago based on early headstone photos. There is a mixture of professionally engraved headstones, vernacular, Eldren Baileys, and at least two dozen fieldstones. All cemeteries are important, but this cemetery contains the remains of people who were likely enslaved based on birthdate. The last obituary I could locate is from 1967. According to FindAGrave, the last burial appears to be in 1967. From historic aerials, it appears the church’s roof collapsed sometime in the late 1950s.

Reuben (1810-1890) and his wife, Eliza, are documented in the census records for Henry County for 1870 and 1880.
Eliza Keith (1820-1895)
Thomas Thrasher
The metal fence likely marks off a family plot.

Based on tax records, the ruins of the O’Neal AME Church will likely be demolished in the coming year, since the company “Hampton Technology Park,” out of Atlanta, owns the land being developed now and the land where the church is located. The address for Hampton Technology Park is 1776 Peachtree Street, which lists a few real estate companies as tenants, so further research would be needed to determine who owns the land.

The images below are from Qpublic.

The cemetery boundary
Land owned by Hampton Technology Park

The cemetery should be restored. The people buried here help tell the story of Henry County. Hopefully, there will be enough interest to save it.

The penny indicates someone visited this headstone and left it as a memento.
In Black cemetery traditions, a pitcher can represent a connection or passage to the afterlife. Until people started stealing the items, these grave goods could be found frequently in Geechee Gullah cemeteries.
-Georgia, -South Carolina, Signs, Theaters

The Auto Drive-In Movie Theater-Greenwood, South Carolina

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The Auto Drive-In Movie Theater began as a one-screen movie theater in 1945. While it has not been in constant use, the current owners purchased the theater and reopened it in 2009. Since then, they’ve been able to add more screens and make other renovations.

You can read the full history of the theater on their website.

A July 17, 1959 article in The Index-Journal about fighting South Carolina’s old blue laws, which prevented most businesses from being open on Sundays
-Illinois, Cemeteries, Historic Photos, Symbolism

A Memorial to a Circus Train Accident in Forest Park, Illinois

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On June 22, 1918, one of the worst train accidents in United States history happened near Hammond, Indiana. While it was the worst circus accident in US history, it was only the third worst US train accident in 1918. Early in the morning, an empty troop train (a military train used to carry personnel and supplies) crashed into the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus train, that had stopped to address mechanical issues. The troop train’s conductor had fallen asleep and missed signals to stop. The accident killed 85 people and injured over 100 more.

Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Just five years earlier, the fraternal order Showmen’s League of America was formed in Chicago for outdoor showmen. They purchased a large 750 lot section in Woodlawn Cemetery. It was here where the mass funeral of the circus performers and staff were held. According to The Indianapolis News (June 25, 1918), 57 people were buried in the cemetery. Unfortunately, many people were not identified. The circus held a large funeral, and the unidentified bodies were placed in a mass grave. For those who could be identified, they were placed in individual graves.

Image from The Chicago Tribune

The section is still being utilized today. If you ever decide to visit, the section is at the front of the cemetery. The section is flanked by four elephants with downturned trunks, which represents mourning.