Terry Chestnut finds his calling by sharing lived civil rights history with others: People of the Black Belt

As a 6-year-old child, Terry Chestnut witnessed history. As he grew up, he experienced history. Now he shares those experiences and the places associated with the rich history of Selma through his tour guide service Selma Tours by Terry Chestnut. 

“I really have found my calling,” Chestnut said. “There’s nothing I would rather be doing other than radio.” His radio show, The Cool Jazz Cafe, airs from 4:05 p.m. until 6 p.m. on WHBB 1490 AM in Selma.  

Selma Tours by Terry Chestnut has been in business for about three and a half years, Chestnut said. “I have done tours for people from all over the world,” including Sicily, Czechoslovakia and Russia, he said.

It was Joanne Bland, Civil Rights activist and tour guide, who convinced Chestnut he should guide tours and share his experiences. “She had been trying to talk me into it, and she just wouldn’t let up, so I told her I would give it a try,” Chestnut said. “She took me under her wing, and she took me on a test run. After I took her on a tour, she said I was ready.”  

Chestnut said, “I know this history firsthand. It’s not like someone handed it down to me or I read it in a book; I lived it.” 

Chestnut grew up in Selma. His father is well known author and Selma’s first Black attorney and Civil Rights activist J.L. Chestnut Jr. “I was with my father on March 7, 1965, which is known as Bloody Sunday by people all over the world,” Chestnut said. On that day on the Edmond Pettus Bridge, he said he saw people getting hit on their arms so hard their arms were being broken. He said he saw people getting hit so hard their teeth went flying. 

More from this section

Fossilized babies of ancient predators show how life on Earth was like

Seven endangered cheetah cubs born at zoo a huge conservation win

40 years on, Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal is still celebrated. But should it be?

He added that everything he tells tourists, he can back up with pictures and documentation. “My classmate Jawana Jackson Richie lived in the Jackson house that’s now the Jackson Museum, which is where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stayed,” Chestnut said. “I have pictures and documents to back it up.” He also said he refers to his father’s book “Black In Selma” that further documents the history he shares.   

He said his tours are in vehicles, but tourists get out at some sites to get an up-close view and take pictures. Chestnut said that he not only takes tourists to “Black history sites, but I take them to white history sites too. I worked at the Vaughn-Smitherman Museum, and that’s where I learned a bunch of the white history.” He said he believes all of our history is important.  

Chestnut said during his tours he frequently calls on District Attorney Michael Jackson because “he is the one that went after James Fowler, the state trooper that shot and killed Jimmy Lee Jackson. (Jackson’s death in Marion sparked the Bloody Sunday march in Selma and eventually the Selma to Montgomery march.) Then I take them to meet Rev. D.L. Tucker, who was Dr. King’s bodyguard. And then we move on to (former Selma Mayor) George Evans.” Chestnut said his guests "are just blown away with all this rich history in Selma.” 

Most tours, Chestnut said, are about six to 10 people, usually a family. “But I have had tours from one to 300 people,” Chestnut said. “I did one tour with the University of Rochester football team.”  

The best way to book a tour is through the Facebook page Selma Tours by Terry Chestnut. You can also email tchestnut1@gmail.com or call Chestnut at (334) 419-8715. “Of all my dad’s six kids, I’m the one everybody says is most like him,” Chestnut said. “This is a way I can keep his legacy alive.” 

To read more subscribe to the print edition at selmasun.com/subscribe.