News Release

National Park Service completes Special Resource Study for Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail

Date: November 17, 2023
Contact: [e-mail]

WASHINGTON – The National Park Service (NPS) has transmitted the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail Special Resource Study (SRS) to Congress. The study identifies opportunities for establishing a National Historical Park associated with the voting rights movement while retaining the existing National Historic Trail in Alabama.   

The SRS evaluated sites related to the 1965 Voting Rights March from Selma to Montgomery against four Congressionally established criteria that would be appropriate for addition to the Trail; and the potential designation of the Trail as a unit of the National Park System. The study team considered public input and evaluated sites for: 1) national significance, 2) suitability, 3) feasibility, and 4) the need for NPS management.

The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail and 26 associated sites meet established criteria for national significance and suitability. The NPS’s evaluation of these sites (along with the Montgomery Interpretive Center as a support facility) also found the vast majority – 21 sites – to be feasible or conditionally feasible. In addition, the study found that the Old Perry County Jail — where the detainment of Rev. James Orange and local youth activists ultimately spurred the voting rights marches of 1965 —also meets the need for direct NPS management. Property owners of the other feasible sites prefer to retain ownership of property at this time and partner with the National Park Service instead.

In addition to sites comprising the existing Trail, the study also evaluated sites in central Alabama’s Perry, Dallas, Lowndes and Montgomery counties associated with an expanded period of significance from 1957 through 1970, including many sites not part of the existing National Historic Trail. The sites contained within this study represent an expansion of recognition and scholarship acknowledging the efforts by everyday Americans who contributed to passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.          

The National Park Service administers and manages the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail via several partnerships with private landowners, Alabama Department of Transportation and Alabama State University. As part of the Trail, the National Park Service operates the interpretive center in Montgomery with operational support from Alabama State University and owns and operates interpretive centers in Selma and White Hall (Lowndes County). NPS partners with private owners of the four campsites along the Trail. Designation as a National Historical Park within the National Park System would allow for expanded interpretation within a period of significance spanning 1957 to 1970; the acquisition of additional properties for NPS ownership, such as the Old Perry County Jail; and expanded partnership agreements with other sites.  

Additions to the National Park System are designated by acts of Congress or through presidential proclamation. A SRS serves as one reference for consideration in the potential designation of an area to be added to the National Park System.   

More information about the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail SRS is available at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/semosrs.  

www.nps.gov 

About the National Park Service: More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 425 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.