A grand opening celebration recognizing the relocation of the Jackson Home, a planning headquarters for Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement in Selma, will be held on June 11 and 12 at its new home in Michigan.
The house was moved from Selma and driven 850 miles to the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan.
The celebration dinner for the Dr. Sullivan & Mrs. Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson Home will be held at 6 p.m. June 11 at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation.
The grand opening will be held starting with a breakfast at 8:30 a.m. at Greenfield Village. The ribbon cutting ceremony will be at 10 a.m. followed by a block party at 11 a.m.
The program will include special programs, food, performances and more to welcome the Jackson Home to Greenfield Village.
Birmingham chef Kimberly McNair Brock will be creating the food for the event. Brock is the sister of Carol Denise McNair, who was just 11 years old when she was killed in the September 15, 1963, bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.
Selma Mayor Johnny Moss III and his wife will be in attendance and will present a Proclamation to Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud of Dearborn that says the city recognizes "the shared values and collaborative spirit that unite the two municipalities."
“While the Jackson House has moved, its spirit remains forever rooted in Selma,” Moss said in a statement. “This grand opening is not only a celebration of preservation, it is a reminder of the sacrifices made in our city and the enduring legacy of the Jackson family.”
The Jackson House is the first historic house added to the museum in more than 40 years.
In the 1960s the house belonged to Dr. Sullivan Jackson and his wife, Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson, who allowed King and other organizers to stay there as they planned protests for voting rights.
King was present at the house when President Lyndon B. Johnson announced the Voting Rights Act.
The move was around $15 million, with $15 million more to go toward maintenance and preservation.
The City of Selma said the Jackson was known as the “Sanctuary on Lapsley,” the home provided refuge for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King and key civil rights leaders including Ralph Abernathy, Andrew Young and other supporters of the movement. It was within the Jackson family’s living room that Dr. King watched President Lyndon B. Johnson deliver the historic “We Shall Overcome” address, a pivotal moment that helped pave the way for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Under the stewardship of the Jacksons, the home became a strategic headquarters for the Selma-to-Montgomery marches and a symbol of courage, hospitality, and unwavering commitment to justice, the city said in a statement. The Henry Ford foundation preserved the home’s original artifacts, including the maple dining table and the telephone used to communicate with the White House.
To live stream the ribbon cutting, go to: links.thf.org/ribboncutting
Link to Block Party Activity is here.
This story was enhanced to include comments from the City of Selma on June 10 at 10:50 a.m.
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