We have been to Old Live Oak several times. This was the first cemetery that I photographed in…read more2000. While on that day I shot with a 35mm film camera and those photos are in a photo album, these photos are from our visits over the years, shot with a 35mm to a memory card, as well as different types of Samsung phones. This is by far my favorite cemetery to photograph. I have several family members on my father's side buried here. -Kevin Old Live Oak Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Selma, Alabama, founded in 1829 and expanded in 1877. The newer portion is sometimes called New Live Oak Cemetery, and the cemetery is collectively known as Live Oak Cemetery. It contains burials of Confederate States of America leaders, as well as Benjamin Sterling Turner, a formerly enslaved African-American who served as U.S. Representative for Alabama during the Reconstruction era. The cemetery is at 110 Dallas Avenue, approximately 0.7 miles west of downtown Selma. Famous Burials: Robert Woodward Barnwell (1849-1902), Episcopal Bishop of Alabama Katharine Hopkins Chapman (1870-1930), author and historian William Joseph Hardee (1815-1873), Confederate Lt. General from Camden County, Georgia, whose published military battlefield tactics were used by military commanders from both the North and the South. Catesby ap Roger Jones (1821-1877), Confederate Naval Captain who commanded the famous ironclad warship the USS Merrimack (1855) during its first battle versus the Union vessel the USS Monitor. William R. King (1786-1853), 13th Vice-president of the United States. Historians have speculated that King was likely the first gay U.S. vice president and possibly one of the first gay members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. A lifelong bachelor, King lived for 15 years in the home of future U.S. president James Buchanan while the two served in the Senate. Buchanan, also a lifelong bachelor, is believed by some historians to be the nation's first gay president. John Tyler Morgan (1824-1907), CSA General, then six-term U.S. senator after the war. An ex-slave holder, he was an ardent racist and an advocate for Jim Crow laws and racial segregation. Benjamin Sterling Turner (1825-1894), the first African American U.S. Congressman from Alabama. Turner was born into slavery in North Carolina and taken to Selma by his owner as a child. He remained enslaved until the end of the Civil War. Turner spent much of his congressional career seeking financial aid for his broken southern state. He advocated racially mixed schools and financial reparation for former slaves.

Live Oak Cemetery is a potent example of the complex history of Selma…read more The final resting place of Benjamin Turner, he was Alabama's first African American representative in 1870. The plaque that honors him was installed by the Society of the Order of the Southern Cross so, of course, it implies that Turner was a Confederate sympathizer. The cemetery also features the mausoleum of William Rufus King, a vice-president who was pro-slavery (and may have had a long-standing homosexual relationship with President Buchanan). This long slim cemetery is filled with tall twisting trees from which faded green Spanish Moss hangs like garland. I meandered through the site until I came upon Confederate Circle. Atop a tall monument stands a soldier looking down ominously. Confederate flags are unwelcoming and chilling yet here were a number of freshly-planted ones sprouting like sprigs next to individual graves. Eight newly-installed metal plaques on a stone platform tell a story that clearly frames Selma as the victim during the Civil War. Referring to Abraham Lincoln as being 'avowedly hostile to the domestic institutions and to the peace and security of the people of the State of Alabama,' reference to yankees abound. Just a few minutes away is the Pettus Bridge. It's hard to reconcile that momentous civil rights history with the narrow romanticized southern vision of the Civil War that, obviously, still remains fresh in the minds of at least some here even after 150 years.

A little off the beaten path, but a worthy stop on our vacation journey…read more Upon crossing the bridge and parking, we were greeted by a kind gentleman who had a table set up (selling shirts, books, etc). He introduced himself (I forget his name) and told the story of Bloody Sunday and his family ties to that event. That kicked into a meaningful conversation, which I am thankful for. We then walked the bridge, which was a heavy moment for us (as midwesterners who are mostly sheltered from this sort of history). Upon returning to our car, we struck up some more conversation, and got to meet "Mr. Smith". I didn't understand much of what he said, but I could feel the history in this man. He had a been a saxophone player, and had been around quite some time. He was a genuine spirit, and I am glad to have met him. We left some money on the table, and went on our way.

We visited and crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL on Jan 9, 2026 as part of Road…read moreScholar's "The Civil Rights Movement - Atlanta, Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham" program. The experience would be perfect if it wasn't raining that day. But we made the best of it. First, we gathered at Songs of Selma for a group photo. Then we took the walkway next to it to cross the bridge. I went across the road to the walkway on the opposite side to better capture the group as they were crossing. I'd have gotten more footage if I wasn't also holding an umbrella over my head at the same time. That wasn't fun. The crossing ended at the Civil Rights Memorial Park, south of the Alabama River. In all, the crossing took 6 minutes. Footage of the crossing is in the video "Day 6: Crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge" on my YouTube channel, in playlist "2026-1: The Civil Rights Movement - Atlanta, Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham". Also on my playlist is the video "Selma Bridge Experience 01.09.2026", posted by our tour guide of the same crossing. If opportunity presents itself in the future, I'd like to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge again... when it isn't raining.

Unique Experience Unique Owner…read moreAvailable on AirBnB The Harmony Club was built in 1909 as a social club by the Jewish community of Selma. Situated on a high bank that overlooks the Alabama River the Harmony Club is a key feature of Selma's historic Water Avenue district. The Harmony Club building project was headed by Benjamin J. Schuster a leading merchant, outstanding citizen and President of the club. He ran Schuster Hardware Company that stood where the Edmund Pettus Bridge now crosses the Alabama River in downtown Selma. The first floor was two retail spaces, that have had businesses in one or both since 1909. The second floor was a restaurant up front and Men's Lounge in back (off limits to the public back then). The Lounge had a pool table, poker games, slot machines, cigar chomping and of course wives were not allowed but occasionally "ladies" were. The third floor was a ballroom that saw lots of dances and parties over the decades. The club functioned for many years, became the Elks Club in the late Thirties and boarded up in 1960. The building sat dormant for forty years until David Hurlbut bought the building in 1999 and started the renovation. The Harmony Club is a work in progress that has many more years to go. The Harmony Club was featured in the Dec. 8, 2010 New York Times, Home & Garden section

This is one of those off the beaten path places to visit. It's located in Demopolis, AL and it's…read moreeasy to miss if you don't know about it, but I found this plantation a little more realistic as it has a lot of original furniture, original plaster and wallpaper. It isn't perfectly restored which gives it some character. Our tour guide did an excellent job explaining the history of the owner and family, the architecture of the house, and even a couple of ghost stories.

This is an amazingly well preserved piece of history! The house is beautiful. The guides know…read moreeverything about the family that built and owned Gaineswood. People come from all over the country and tour this house.

What is there to say about the city of Selma. This is a city that was instrumental in the civil…read morerights movement of the 60s. It is home to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and we all know what happened on that Bridge on Sunday, March 7, 1965. This city is packed with a lot of history from that era and some of the cities attractions include, the Selma Interpretive Center, The Brown Chapel AME Church, the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute, and of course the Edmund Pettus Bridge. There has been I petition to rename the Bridge after the late US Representative John Lewis, who was present on bridge on Bloody Sunday. Sadly, a lot of the city is closed and/or abandoned and it is starting to look a little run down. It does not have a lot of hotels to stay, so it is better scheduled as a day visit. I drove down from Birmingham for the day to explore the city. I would check to see the availability and hours of places before you go, because a few places that I wanted to see were closed when I was there. From a historical and importance in American History standpoint, this city gets six or seven stars, but it is starting to fall behind and is severely neglected, which is very sad given its importance. I hope someone invests and the city and focuses on preserving it storied and fruitful history.

Wonderful experience! The staff was extremely thoughtful greeting us with cold water bottles at the…read moredoor. They were very patient with our 5 and 7 year olds who asked so many questions that were answered thoroughly. Thank you for being one of the highlights of our historic trip!

I don't really have much to say about this place as I didn't have time to go inside and do a tour…read more I only got to see this from the outside and take in some history that I wasn't expecting and honestly, was not something that existed. Earlier the day before we drove past this on a bus and our driver pointed it out to us. Our driver was more informative than anyone else I met in Montgomery. He was the one that informed us all that this is not where this house was originally and that it was moved to the current location. I honestly did learn something while visiting. I always thought the capital of the Confederacy was in Richmond, VA. I never knew that the first capital was in Montgomery. Almost like it was something not taught. The house was beautiful, even with all its baggage that comes with it. Well maintained and preserved. History, whether you want to acknowledge it or not, is still part of the fabric of time.

Bluff Hall, circa 1832, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, stands tall on historic…read moreWhite Bluff, for which it is named, overlooking the Tombigbee River. Open for guided tours, Bluff Hall's majestic rooms are adorned with period furnishings and an extensive clothing collection. Shop for southern arts and literature at the Canebrake Craft Corner gift shop.

This memorial is located on the outside of the Legacy Museum in a small plaza. It is located behind…read morewhere the shuttle picks up to take visitors to the memorial park. This is a very nice memorial that is intended to honor the thousands of Black people lynched in the years immediately following emancipation, whose names may never be known. The memorial has bench seating on its permitter and features a fountain that lists 560 names of lynching victims, a small representation of the thousands killed between 1865 and 1876. You will find sculptures of 3 African heads of different ages coming out from the center of the water fountain. They are very detailed and almost look real. I can feel their pain. At the end of the fountain you will see a wall that reads a follow: "May we never forget all those who suffered and died because they asserted their basic human right to be free". It is very somber memorial and is respectfully done. It educated me as well. I really did not think about the mass lynchings that were conducted post emancipation by white mobs. The fact that everyone was not happy and did not approve of emancipation is commonly overlooked. Many of those people resorted to violence to express their disapproval and maintain supremacy. I like this mural. It is a one of a kind and honors a somewhat forgotten group. The fountain/water table, sculptures and wall and masterfully done and look awesome. You just have to see it for yourself. Anyway, as with most memorials that I have visited and reviewed, this is not a very long stop. I was there less than 10 minutes. More than likely you will stop here while visiting the Legacy Museum, but if not, you should at least make this part of a larger itinerary.

As an artist and art educator I appreciate a well designed and curated museum and this one is…read moreperhaps one of the best I've ever been in. Really powerful stuff here, I think every adult in America needs to experience it. I would caution that I think it would take a well prepared and mature child to visit here, it really drives home America's ugly racial past.

Oh my gosh!! This musuem and all it offers needs to be seen by everyone! It is beautifully curated…read moreinto 4 Legacy sites. Transportation on a air conditioned shuttle takes you to any of the 4 Legacy sites. Each site is unique to sharing the history, painful as it can be to remember, of lynching, slavery, and the fight to freedom. The museum is indoors and I spent 2 hrs and only got through 1/4 of the museum. I explored the lynching memorial site which is outdoors and provides a wealth of information on slaves lynched in America. They also offered a boat ride to an outdoor Freedom park with thoughtfully crafted pieces of art, breathtaking monuments and historical artifacts. I did not have time to visit the last Legacy site before it closed but I now have a reason to go back! It was a park dedicated to Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Not only was I taken aback from the detail placed into each Legacy site but to know they only charge $5 for all of it. On top of the fact that they provide motorized vehicles for those in need. This is hands down the best history musuem I have encountered. I suggest everyone visit! The staff is very friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable about it all. They showed great pride in what has been created here.

We visited the National Memorial for Peace and Justice (NMPJ) on Jan 8, 2026 as part of Road…read moreScholar's "The Civil Rights Movement - Atlanta, Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham" program. It is one of the three Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) Legacy sites in Montgomery, AL, and the only one where photography is allowed. Like with the other two sites, security checkpoint is present and I surrendered my foldable (smartphone) tripod. While the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park has a collection of artwork in a park setting, the entire area of the NMPJ can be seen as a single artwork of many sections, like the long wall mural in Dexter Ave Baptist Church (also in Montgomery; within walking distance from the Legacy Museum). The first section of NMPJ is a large grassy area bordered by walkways, wall-mounted written content on the subject of "from slavery to lynching". and the Nkyinkyim Installation sculpture. I don't know if picnics or napping on the grassy area is allowed. I didn't ask. Walking from this area to the next section took time. The next section, being the memorial temple, is the highlight of NMPJ. An open structure that houses numerous tall tablets resembling coffins. Each tablet bears the names of county and state, followed by the names of lynching victims and their respective dates of death. Initially, the tablets look like they are resting on the floor. At the center of the temple is a grassy square accessible from multiple points. Standing at the center of the square, the visitor can see the sheer masses of deaths memorialized within the temple. (Photos and footages are found on my YouTube channel @1Somber. Look for video title "Day 5: National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Freedom Monument Sculpture Park" in playlist "2026-1: The Civil Rights Movement - Atlanta, Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham".) At one end of the structure, the path turns right to a corridor that slopes down. I then realized that the tablets are hanging from the ceiling. When the corridor reaches the bottom level, the tables are hanging over my head. Mounted on opposite walls are panels, each mentions the known "justification" for the victim's death. Why only the bottommost area of the panel is used is a mystery. I hope in time more names will be added to these panels. The final wall has an inscription draped by a waterfall states that the "victims of racial terror lynchings... whose deaths cannot be documented... whose names will never be known... are all honored here." Leaving memorial temple, I came to Monument Park. In this area, the tablets take on the shape and size of coffins, and lay on the ground rows after rows on the left and the right of the walkway. Like the tablets at the memorial temple, each bears the names of county and state, followed by the names of lynching victims and their respective dates of death. After Monument Park comes the "Guided By Justice" sculpture, and then Community Park. Tablets shaped like signposts line up in a single file to one side, and act as shoulders for the visitor walkway. Each has written details of specific lynchings. I followed these "signposts" and arrived at the "Arise" sculpture. The path then leads back to starting point. Visitors can either go for another round or leave. Our tour guide said that a visit at the NMPJ can be done in 45 minutes. I say, "Take all the time you want." The patrolling staff is sparse and there's no hurry. The $5 admission price covers all three EJI sites. Although I appreciated the NMPJ, particularly capturing a considerable amount of photos and footages, I do not give this place 5 stars because of the unnecessary security checkpoint to do the boat ride from Boat Launch at 101 Morris Street to Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, and vice versa. See attached image for further details. At 12:56pm, after visiting the National Memorial for Peace and Justice (NMPJ), I showed up at Boat Launch. There was a security checkpoint. I was told to turn over my tripod before getting on the boat. The big, burly bespectacled guy in the suit claimed that tripods could be used to vandalize the sculptures, and I could take the boat back and to this pier to get it back. He gave no explanation as to how a tripod would be a hazardous or dangerous object on a boat ride itself. The Sculpture Park has its own security checkpoint where I would turn over the tripod, and I wasn't planning on coming back to this pier just to pick up my tripod. It would be a waste of time. So I waited for the shuttle to take me back to the Legacy Museum after stopping over at NMPJ. When I finally arrived at Sculpture Park, 45 minutes of my time was wasted. This limited the time spent there. There was no necessity to have security checkpoint at Boat Launch when Sculpture Park has its own security checkpoint. Until EJI Legacy updates their policy to one that makes sense, this EJI site gets no more than three stars.