Signs, Signs (MLK Jr. Historic Walking Tour)

February is Black History Month, and Selma participates

 by offering school field trips to local Civil Rights sites 

that include Brown Chapel AME Church.

   During the 1960s and beyond, ministers and churches

 played pivotal roles for social and political change.

Linking to Signs, Signs and City Daily Photo Blogs

Working on Windows

Between rains one day last week, workers were out all over Selma catching up on repairs. At First Baptist downtown, windows get a facelift.

Selma Churches, Tabernacle Baptist

When I recall my most joyous moments, I realize how true the words of this sign can be.

Tabernacle Baptist Church on Broad Street is historic as the church that gave birth to the voting rights movement in Selma. The first mass meeting was held here before the meetings were moved to Brown Chapel AME Church on what is now Martin Luther King Jr. Street.

Thanks to guest photographer Christine Weerts for sending this picture.

Selma's Churches, The Story of Ruth in Stained Glass

The story of Ruth in the Old Testament has always been among my favorite, and the scene where she gathers grain is beautifully depicted in this stained-glass window at Temple Mishkan Israel. After Ruth's husband died, she followed her mother-in-law to the land of Judah, telling her, "Wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; Your people shall be my people, and your God will be my God."

Photograph by Christine Weerts

More information about Temple Mishkan Israel can be found HERE.

Queen of Peace Catholic Church

The architecture of Queen of Peace Catholic Church is unique in that it was constructed with stones from remains of the old Confederate Arsenal, the second largest munitions industry in the South. The arsenal was destroyed by Union troops in the Battle of Selma. Notice the aqua stained-glass windows on either side of the front door.

Mary Memorial

A statue of Mary, mother of Jesus, graces a small memorial garden next to the St. Edmund Memorial Chapel. The chapel was built in 1938 by the Edmundite Missions for African American Catholics. When the congregation merged with the white Catholic church in the 1970s, the former church building was converted to a chapel for the Edmundite fathers who live in Selma.

Thanks to Christine Weerts for sending her photograph.

*(City Daily Photo Blogs has reached a membership of 1,000! When Selma, Ala., Daily Photo began in March 2007, there were only about 200 members.)

Church Street Methodist (Skywatch Friday)

Skies are blue, and temperatures are cold in Selma this week, and while I have posted photos of Church Street United Methodist Church before, here's yet another angle.

Methodists have worshiped here since 1835, and while this structure isn't the first, it sits on land set aside for the Methodists when the Selma Town Land Company drew the city's blueprints back in 1817.

The rose window above is a memorial to the 11 people who were part of the original congregation. Their names are included on the eight "petals."

To see more skies around the world, visit Skywatch HERE.

Late Afternoon (Skywatch Friday)

The late afternoon sun shines brightly against the red bricks of Church Street United Methodist Church. Built in 1901 after an 1899 wind storm toppled the steeple into the sanctuary, this structure has undergone several renovations. It is located at Dallas Avenue and Church Street on an acre of land set aside for churches by the Selma Land Company in 1817. The first wooden structure was built here in 1835.

Visit more Longest-Day-of-the-Year Skywatch photos at Wigger's World.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

St. Paul's Episcopal Church was founded in 1838, but this English Gothic Revival building was completed in 1875, ten years after Civil War Union Gen. J.H. Wilson's troops burned the original structure during the Battle of Selma. During that battle, the church's rector was wounded and the senior warden killed.
This building was designed by the New York firm of R. & R.M. Upjohn. Its first services were held Easter Sunday, and a number of former Confederate officers were members. They included Lt. Gen. Joseph Johnston, Lt. Gen. Joseph Hardee, Maj. Gen. John H. Forney, Capt. Catesby ap. R. Jones, and Capt. Joseph Forney Johnston, who later became governor of Alabama and a U.S. senator.

Reformed Presbyterian Church

The Reformed Presbyterian Church was built in 1878 and is one of Selma's oldest churches. Its Carpenter Gothic architecture is elegant, and the structure is slated to be on tour during the 2008 Spring Pilgrimage.