Park & Education Center
Building a nexus of heritage and community upliftment
Central to achieving our mission is our Foot Soldiers Park & Education Center. The new center, designed with and for the Selma community, is currently under development and once completed, will serve as a powerful engine for civil rights education, community engagement, and economic empowerment.
A dynamic hub for transformation
Located adjacent to the site where the Bloody Sunday march began and just steps from the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the Park & Education Center campus will encompass community greenspaces, a basketball court, playground, a museum and historic walking paths, market space for local businesses, and education center.
Foot Soldiers Memorial
The memorial offers visitors a journey into the experiences of the foot soldiers – celebrating the diverse set of individuals, recognizing their collective triumph, and inspiring personal connection.
Selma Hub
The hub will serve as a focal point for education and community engagement, providing visitors and the community a place to plan and purchase tours; visit a library archive of civil rights artifacts; gathering, educational, and co-working spaces; play areas for children in the community; and a movie theater and performance space for film screenings, symposia, cultural, and literary events. It will also house FSP offices.
John R. Lewis Memorial Playground
This radically inclusive play space, designed to honor the late Congressman Lewis, will serve as a distinct area for children of all ages and abilities in the community, providing them a safe, engaging place to be themselves.
By honoring the sacrifices and achievements [of foot soldiers in 1965], the park instills a sense of pride and reverence for the progress made in advancing civil rights.
John R. Lewis Legacy Institute and family
Design partners & collaborators
We are proud to partner with a group of talented and dedicated teams who are helping us envision and design the center with intention, historical context and foresight.
Visit Selma
Take an historic journey
Immerse yourself in the civil rights movement and learn directly from those who walked the path to justice, including our founder Jo Ann Bland.