Soooo much history. It's like stepping back in time! Recommend. Admission $3.00…read more Vaughan-Smitherman Museum (Selma, Alabama) Built in 1847 by Selma's Masonic Lodge #27 as a school for orphans and children of Masons. It has had a long history of service to the City of Selma. Throughout the years it has functioned as a school, a Confederate Hospital after the Battle of Selma, a Freedman's Bureau Hospital (making it Selma's first African American Hospital), the Dallas County Courthouse, a Military School, the Vaughan Memorial Hospital, and finally a museum depicting Selma's history from it's founding until about 1960.

We we touring Selma on a Saturday morning and after walking the Pettus Bridge, we looked over at…read morethe museum and saw that they were open. It is located at the bottom of the bridge. Normally, it is only opened by reservation. Luckily for us, some group had it reserved for that morning and the museum historian, Sam Walker, graciously let us piggy back on the group. Mr. Walker was amazing and showed a lot pride in the museum. He was very friendly and helpful and pointed out a few key highlights of the museum to us before we really got into it. The museum has a decent sized parking lot and a small gift shop that was not open while I was there. The museum is a lot larger than it looks. It just kept going and going. It provides not only a background on voting rights history, it has a display of photos from Bloody Sunday, a President Obama Gallery, a jail cell exhibit, a church exhibit, a lot of information about the Foot Soldiers, a Ku Klux Klan display, White only and Black drinking fountains, early Black elected officials, MLK and Ghandi comparison, and bogus voting test. Mr Walker came out from the front desk and told us the story of the Bloody Sunday pictures on the wall. They were never seen before then and were donated by a police photographer after he heard of the opening of the museum. The photographer was living in Montgomery at the time and hooked them up with who to request the pictures from. He then showed us a photo and pointed out the window and told us that certain picture occurred outside of the window "right there". That is when it dawned on me that the horrible events of that fateful day occurred right out front of the museum. Outside you will find a bus, which I think they use to help people register and vote. There are also some nice murals on garage doors out there that I really liked and tie into the city, and voting rights. This museum does not have the huge funding that others get. They still do a wonderful job presenting the information. The museum is well organized and has lots of displays and artifacts. It took me about 45 minutes to go through the museum. I know it is difficult to get into the museum. I have been to Selma a few times and was unable to make it happen prior to this trip. And I just lucked out on this go around. It is however, worth the effort and I highly recommend checking this museum out.

Very disappointed with attempt to visit museum on a Thursday. Website clearly states that the…read moremuseum should've been open from 10-4, but we arrived to find a sign taped to the door saying "Sorry the Museum will open by appointments only until further notice." Since we were only passing through Selma for the day, trying to make an appointment at THAT point was pointless; not sure why the info on the website wasn't updated so that we could've planned appropriately.

During our visit to see the Edmond Pettus Bridge we stopped by this museum. It was a small…read morecollection but still worth experiencing. It's not an elaborate museum but growing. The woman who worked there actually walked along side us describing the displays. It was hot inside so bring water and a hand fan. My favorite was the KKK exhibit.

It was closed when I stopped by today, looked to be permanent. Also, the phone is disconnected…read more Not sure when this might have happened.

A great history museum for Selma and the surrounding Dallas County. A great many interesting…read moreartifacts with much provided information. I can honestly say that we were blessed by our visit. Low cost admission. The museum's curator is an extremely knowledgeable and very entertaining woman! Highly recommended.

Michelle took photographs of myself and other participants in a project developed for breast cancer…read moresurvivors. The pictures taken for all were the most beautiful, amazing, sensitive I've ever seen. Every single person in that project loved their picture. I was moved to tears when I saw mine. I'm not photogenic. I never like my pictures. But these were beautiful. Truly! I do not hesitate to recommend Michelle for any and all of your photography needs. She is incredible.

From the owner: Since 2012, Michelle has been diligently honing her craft in professional photography and artist…read moreservices as Silver Moon Custom Art & Photography. Michelle's focus is on destination weddings--using the beauty surrounding your venue to capture the unique beauty of your day. She has shot weddings all over the state of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan and is always looking to add new places to the list. Michelle can also help with portraiture, headshots, events and custom art projects.