Auburn University receives grants from National Park Service to document, preserve African American civil rights history

A project to collect oral histories from the foot soldiers of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March has received a grant from the National Park Service.

The Auburn University-led project, titled “Memory and the March: Oral Histories with Selma’s Foot Soldiers,” received $46,588 in funding from the NPS. The project is spearheaded by Auburn professors Keith Hébert and Elijah Gaddis.

“The National Park Service has recommitted its resources to identify, preserve and interpret resources connected to the nation’s African American history in a profound way that greatly expands the ability of Black rural community partners to collaborate with institutions such as Auburn University to transform how our nation remembers its tumultuous past while reflecting on how best to move forward in a time of great change,” Hébert said. “These projects will enhance our nation’s understanding of how Black Alabamians have historically challenged the racially segregated social order to build vibrant communities and stake their claim to fulfilling a vision of a more perfect and equitable union.”

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