A Seed is Planted

A Seed is Planted (HM2785)

Location: Marion, AL 36756 Perry County
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Country: United States of America
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N 32° 37.954', W 87° 19.07'

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Inscription

Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail

On February 18, 1965, a night march was planned to support activist James Orange, incarcerated in the Perry County Jail. Preachers led participants from this church, Zion Chapel Methodist, the physical and spiritual base of the movement in Marion. But armed state troopers in riot gear immediately confronted them. Suddenly the lights went out in the square behind them and nightsticks started swinging. Heads were clubbed and bodies trampled. There was screaming and blood.

Jimmie Lee Jackson, a Vietnam veteran, fled to Mack's Café (then directly behind the church) for safety, but the troopers followed. Jackson was shot while trying to protect his grandfather and mother. He died of his wounds on February 26. At his funeral, SCLC leader James Bevel declared, "it would be fitting to take Jimmie Lee's body and march it all the way to the state capital in Montgomery," planting the seed for one of the greatest efforts of the civil rights movement.

They beat people at random. They didn't have to be marching. All you had to do was be black.
Albert Turner, SCLC
worker from Marion

Main photo: Marchers protest for the right to vote in front of the Perry County Courthouse in Marion, February 1965. © Alabama Department of Public Safety
Inset photo: Mourners gather around the



casket of Jimmie Lee Jackson. © Bettman/Corbis


Details
HM NumberHM2785
Tags
, ,
Year Placed2015
Placed ByThe National Park Service, Department of the Interior
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Saturday, April 28th, 2018 at 10:01pm PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)16S E 470186 N 3610599
Decimal Degrees32.63256667, -87.31783333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 32° 37.954', W 87° 19.07'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds32° 37' 57.24" N, 87° 19' 4.2" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)334
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling North
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 302 Pickens St, Marion AL 36756, US
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