Alabama State University has moved one step closer to start construction on the third and final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights Interpretive Center after the state of Alabama announced it is awarding the HBCU with an $800,000 grant, school officials said Tuesday.
Last week, Dr. Janice Franklin, director of the school’s National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture, announced at a public hearing that the $800,000 grant will go toward a National Park Service-managed museum showcasing the history of the 1965 Voting Rights campaign. ASU officials are seeking a total of $3 million to have the Voting Rights Interpretive Center completed by March 2015, which will be the 50th anniversary month of the historic Selma to Montgomery March.
Securing the grant “means that we’re much closer to making this thing happen,” said Dr. Howard Robinson, the ASU archivist. “We are very committed and excited about having this interpretive center open for the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery march.”
“The Voting Rights Act changed the political dynamics of this nation. We think it’s important to celebrate that,” added Robinson.
Currently, along the federally-designated Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail in Alabama, the National Park Service operates Voting Rights Interpretive Centers in Selma and Lowndes County. In 2011, the National Park Service chose the ASU campus to be the site for the third center, according to ASU.
Alabama state Rep. Thad McClammy (D-Montgomery) told Diverse Tuesday that ASU is slated to receive a $1.2 million grant from the state’s Department of Conservation, pending final approval by a department oversight committee. He said he expects the grant, which will support construction of the Voting Rights Interpretive Center, to be approved by the end of the summer.
