Plaque unveiled to honor Bloody Sunday staging ground in Selma

A patch of concrete where nearly 600 voting rights marchers assembled before the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march in Selma, Alabama, was formally recognized on March 4, 2026, with the unveiling of a historical plaque at George Washington Carver Homes.

The ceremony, held on the site’s old basketball court, drew local officials, Civil Rights foot soldiers, residents and a busload of visitors traveling with the Common Power Institute. The dedication fulfilled a four-decade effort by the late Joanne Bland to preserve and mark what she called “this concrete” – the last remaining ground where marchers lined up before crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge on what became known as Bloody Sunday.