Edmund Pettus Bridge

Edmund Pettus Bridge
Convicted	US Highway 80
Subjugated	Alabama River
place	Selma, Alabama
construction	Arch bridge
overall length	380 m
width	12.9 m
Longest span	76 m
Clear height	4.5 m
start of building	1939
completion	1940
opening	25. May
	location

32.405555555556 -87.018611111111Coordinates: 32 ° 24 ′ 20 " N , 87 ° 1 ′ 7" W.

The Edmund Pettus Bridge is a bridge that spans US Highway 80 in Selma, Alabama, across the Alabama River . The 1940 built bridge after General Edmund Winston Pettus named, a former brigadier general of the Confederate Army , US Senator from Alabama and ranking member of the Ku Klux Klan . The bridge is designed as a steel arch bridge with a span of 76 m.

The bridge became known as the place where the police brutally stopped black civil rights activists , including John Lewis , on March 7, 1965 on the first Selma to Montgomery march . On March 9, Martin Luther King stopped the second attempt for a march to Montgomery in front of the bridge when the police again opposed the marchers. Only on March 21, 1965 did the civil rights activists make another attempt. Protected from the local police by hundreds of soldiers and members of the National Guard, they were able to cross the bridge and reach the capital of Alabama by March 24th.

In 2007, an average of 17,950 vehicles used the bridge every day .

On February 27, 2013, the Edmund Pettus Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a monument . At the same time it was recognized as a National Historic Landmark .

John Lewis died on July 17, 2020. During the funeral services, his coffin was moved across the bridge to commemorate his role in the events of 1965.

Web links

Commons : Edmund Pettus Bridge - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ http://www.selma.com/edmund+pettus+bridge.aspx
^ Edmund Pettus Bridge in the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed July 26, 2017
↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Alabama. National Park Service , accessed July 19, 2019.
↑ The US says goodbye to John Lewis Der_Spiegel_ (online) , accessed July 27, 2020.

[1] ttp://www.selma.com/edmund+pettus+bridge.aspx

[2] Edmund Pettus Bridge in the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed July 26, 2017

[3] Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Alabama. National Park Service , accessed July 19, 2019.

[4] The US says goodbye to John Lewis Der_Spiegel_ (online) , accessed July 27, 2020.