Edmund Pettus Bridge | |
|---|---|
 The central span of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in April 2010 | |
| Coordinates | 32°24′20″N87°01′07″W / 32.40556°N 87.01861°W /32.40556; -87.01861 |
Edmund Pettus Bridge | |
| Location | Selma,Alabama, U.S. |
| Built | 1940 |
| Built by | T. A. Loving Company |
| NRHP reference No. | 13000281 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | February 27, 2013[1] |
| Designated NHL | February 27, 2013 |
| Carries |   US 80 Bus. |
| Crosses | Alabama River |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Through arch bridge |
| Total length | 1,248.1 feet (380.4 m) |
| Width | 42.3 feet (12.9 m) |
| Longest span | 250 feet (76 m) |
| No. of spans | 8 |
| Piers in water | 4 |
| Clearance above | 14.8 feet (4.5 m) |
| History | |
| Construction start | 1939 |
| Construction end | 1940 |
| Opened | May 25, 1940 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 17,720 |
| Location | |
 Interactive map of Edmund Pettus Bridge | |
TheEdmund Pettus Bridge carriesU.S. Route 80 Business (US 80 Bus.) across theAlabama River inSelma, Alabama, United States. Built in 1940, it is named afterEdmund Pettus, a formerConfederatebrigadier general,U.S. senator, and state-level leader ("Grand Dragon") of the AlabamaKu Klux Klan.[2] According toSmithsonian, "The bridge was named for him, in part, to memorialize his history of restraining and imprisoning African-Americans in their quest for freedom after the Civil War". The bridge is a steelthrough arch bridge with a central span of 250 feet (76 m). Nine large concrete arches support the bridge and roadway on its east side.
The Edmund Pettus Bridge was the site of the conflict ofBloody Sunday on March 7, 1965, when police attackedCivil Rights Movement demonstrators with horses, billy clubs, and tear gas[3] as they wereattempting to march to the state capital,Montgomery.[2] The marchers crossed the bridge again on March 21 and walked to theCapitol building.
The bridge was declared aNational Historic Landmark on February 27, 2013.[1][4]
The bridge carries four lanes of U.S. Route 80 Business (formerly the mainlineU.S. Route 80[citation needed]) over the Alabama River, from Selma on the west side, to points east.
The bridge has a total of 11spans. It has 10 smaller concrete spans, while the main span in the center, over the river, is made of steel. Because Selma is built on a bluff over the river, the west side of the bridge is higher than the east side. The center of the bridge is 100 ft (30 m) over the river.
In 2011, the bridge was listed asfunctionally obsolete, meaning that it does not meet current design standards for its current traffic load.[5]
The bridge is named afterEdmund Pettus, a lawyer, judge, Confederate brigadier general, state-level leader ("Grand Dragon") of the AlabamaKu Klux Klan, and U.S. senator.[6]
Because of Pettus' role in supportingslavery andracism in the United States, there have been efforts to rename the bridge, including one coinciding with the 50th anniversary of theSelma to Montgomery marches in 2015.[2] Changing the name would require approval from theAlabama Legislature.[7][8] One proposed alternative namesake isJohn Lewis, a civil rights leader who played a prominent role in the Selma to Montgomery marches and later acongressman. Support in honor of Lewis' name increased dramatically following his death in 2020, two months after themurder of George Floyd which led toprotests and numerouschanges to racially controversial names across the country.[9] Lewis had voiced opposition to changing the name of the bridge before his death.[10] Since then, CongresswomanTerri Sewell, who is U.S. representative of the area encompassing Selma and coauthored the press release in 2015 with John Lewis opposing the renaming of the bridge, has come out supporting the renaming of the bridge, saying "We must confront and reject Alabama’s racist history and come together to implement the bold changes needed to ensure our nation finally lives up to its promise of equality and justice for all."[11]
An earlier bridge was built in 1885 by theMilwaukee Bridge & Iron Works one block east of the current bridge to carry traffic over the river at the foot of Washington Street. It was an iron camelbacktruss bridge with three spans, supported on stone piers. The northernmost span swung open to allow boats to pass. It had to be operated by a bridge tender, whose house remains at the bridge site to the present day.[12]
The Edmund Pettus Bridge was designed by Selma native Henson Stephenson and opened to traffic in 1940.[5]
In 1965, voting rights for African Americans were a contentious issue. In Selma, voting rolls were 99% White and 1% African American, while the 1960 Census found that the population of Alabama was 30% nonwhite.[13][14] In February 1965, state troopers and locals in Marion, Alabama, started an armed confrontation with some 400 African-American unarmed demonstrators.Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot in the stomach, and he died eight days later. As word spread of the shooting and of Jackson's condition, the case alarmed civil rights activists, includingMartin Luther King Jr. andSCLC's Director of Direct ActionJames Bevel. Director Bevel planned a peaceful march from Selma to the Alabama capitol building in Montgomery, which first required crossing the Pettus bridge leading out of Selma and onto the state highway.[13]
On March 7, 1965, armed police attacked the unarmed peaceful civil rights demonstratorsattempting to march to the state capital ofMontgomery in an incident that became known asBloody Sunday.[2] Because of the design of the bridge, the protesters were unable to see the police officers on the east side of the bridge until after they had reached the top of the bridge. The protesters first saw the police while at the center of the bridge, 100 feet (30 m) above the Alabama River. Upon seeing them, protesterHosea Williams asked his fellow protesterJohn Lewis if he knew how to swim. Despite the danger ahead, the protesters bravely continued marching.[5] They were then attacked and brutally beaten by police and the state troopers on the other side.
Televised images of the attack presented Americans and international audiences with horrifying images of marchers left bloodied and severely injured, and roused support for theSelma Voting Rights Movement.Amelia Boynton, who had helped organize the march as well as participated in it, was beaten unconscious. A photograph of her lying on Edmund Pettus Bridge appeared on the front page of newspapers and news magazines around the world.[15] In all, 17 marchers were hospitalized and 50 were treated for lesser injuries; the day soon became known as "Bloody Sunday" within the African-American community.[16]
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Since 1965, many marches have commemorated the events of Bloody Sunday. On its 30th anniversary, Rep.John Lewis, former president ofStudent 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."[17] On the 40th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, over 10,000 people, including Lewis, again marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.[18]
The1996 Summer Olympics torch relay made its way across the bridge on its way to theSummer Olympic Games inAtlanta.[19]Andrew Young, a Bloody Sunday organizer who went on to become aU.S. Congressman,Ambassador to the United Nations, and Mayor ofAtlanta, carried theOlympic flame across the bridge, accompanied by many public officials in a symbolic showing of the progress of race relations in theSouthern United States.[19] When Young spoke at theBrown 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."[19]
In March 2015, on the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, U.S. presidentBarack Obama, the first African-American U.S. president, delivereda speech at the foot of the bridge and then, along with other U.S. political figures such as former U.S. presidentGeorge W. Bush and Representative John Lewis, and Civil Rights Movement activists such asAmelia 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.[20]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Edmund Pettus Bridge Processional in Honor of Rep. John Lewis, July 26, 2020,C-SPAN |
After civil rights leader and U.S. CongressmanJohn Lewis died in July 2020, calls rose to rename the bridge after him,[21][22] though Lewis—in an editorial with RepresentativeTerri Sewell—had previously voiced opposition to renaming the bridge, stating: "Keeping the name of the Bridge is not an endorsement of the man who bears its name but rather an acknowledgement that the name of the Bridge today is synonymous with the Voting Rights Movement which changed the face of this nation and the world."[10] Part of the funeral procession for Lewis included transporting his casket across the bridge in acaisson en route to Montgomery, where he lay in repose at theAlabama State Capitol.[23][24]
{{cite book}}:|magazine= ignored (help){{cite book}}:|magazine= ignored (help)"Take his name off that bridge and replace it with a good man, John Lewis, the personification of the goodness of America," Rep. Jim Clyburn said.
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