Foot Soldiers Park

10/12/2026

Our team joined museum leaders from across the country at the 48th Annual Association of African American Museums Conference, themed “This Land Holds Our Stories.”

We came home with fresh ideas for preserving the stories of the 1965 foot soldiers and for welcoming even more visitors to Selma.

Read our full recap. https://bit.ly/4y7QBcV

10/09/2026

Backpacks, ballots, and big conversations.
Our Youth Leaders and Youth Advisory Board kicked off the school year at Selma’s City Wide Back-to-School Bash with our second annual youth panel.
They talked about Jimmie Lee Jackson, whose murder in 1965 led to Bloody Sunday, along with voting rights challenges and why young people deserve to have a say in the decisions about their schools and futures.
We also gave away 100 backpacks full of school supplies and registered eligible high schoolers to vote.
Big thanks to Selma City Schools, the City of Selma, the Robertson Foundation, and Dallas County Schools for making the Bash happen!
Read the full recap >> https://bit.ly/4AUiJmp

Selma youth panel connects civil rights history, voting rights, and civic engagement at Foot Soldiers Park’s back-to-school event.

09/28/2026

She was beaten unconscious on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. A photograph of her body on the pavement became one of the defining images of the Civil Rights Movement. And then she got back up.

Amelia Boynton Robinson was one of the most fearless figures of the movement — a voting rights activist, the first Black woman to run for Congress in Alabama, and a foot soldier in the truest sense of the word. Her home at 1315 Lapsley Street in Selma is one of the stops on our tour.

Come walk in her footsteps.

Book a tour: footsoldierspark.org/tours/booking/

09/25/2026

ON THIS DAY | Sept. 25, 1957 ✊🏾
Nine teenagers. One school. A whole country watching.
Today in 1957, the Little Rock Nine finished their first full day of class at Central High, with soldiers from the 101st Airborne walking them in. That first full day didn't come easy, and it didn't come quick.

📍 Sept. 4: The Arkansas National Guard, sent by the governor, turned them away. Elizabeth Eckford walked up alone and faced a screaming mob.
📍 Sept. 23: They made it inside through a side door, but the crowd outside got so dangerous they were sent home before lunch.
📍 Sept. 24: President Eisenhower sent in federal troops.
📍 Sept. 25: They walked in and stayed.

That's three weeks of being blocked, threatened and turned around, and they came back every time. That's what a foot soldier looks like. 💛

Minnijean. Elizabeth. Ernest. Thelma. Melba. Gloria. Terrence. Jefferson. Carlotta. Say their names.

Foot Soldiers then. Foot Soldiers now. Never stop marching.

09/21/2026

Some places are sacred. 🙏🏾

Brown Chapel Church. The Edmund Pettus Bridge. George Washington Carver Homes. And yet - Fewer than 3% of National Historic Places sites focus on African American experiences. We're working to change that.

History was made in these spaces — where ordinary people found extraordinary courage and changed America forever.

Support the work → Book a tour - Grab some merch - Get involved - Make a donation💛
footsoldierspark.org

09/01/2026

Tameka Dirton lives in Selma’s public housing community. She started working with our programs — learning Selma’s history and her civic responsibilities. Inspired by Dr. King, now, she’s paying it forward as a member of our Civic Engagement Corps (CEC) – working to see the change she wants to see in Selma.
Watch Tameka tell her story, in her own words.

08/28/2026

If you've ever wanted to experience Selma's history the way it deserves to be experienced — not through a textbook, but through the eyes of those who lived it — our Selma Historic Tours are for you.

Our guided tours visit 23 historic locations over 2–3 hours, led by knowledgeable guides with direct lineage or personal connection to the Civil Rights Movement. Veteran foot soldiers. Their descendants. Living history.

Every ticket purchase and every donation helps us preserve Selma's sacred sites and ensure these stories are never lost.

Visit footsoldierspark.org/tours to book a tour or support our historic preservation work. We'd love to see you in Selma! 🤎

08/20/2026

It was a powerful night of remembrance and renewal. We commemorated the 61st anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, bringing together civic leaders, elected officials, community members and foot soldiers to recommit themselves to finish what the Civil Rights Movement started.

This year was of particular importance as the fight to protect our voting rights has recently intensified with the Supreme Court decision to weaken Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

Our CEO Kimberly Smitherman challenged every person in the room and Selmian to step up to the moment and lead.

Read more and check out pictures of the staff dressed in their finest! bit.ly/FSPGalaBlog2026

Foot Soldiers Park marks the 61st anniversary of the VRA and challenges Selmians to recommit to protecting voting rights.