March Theme Day (Passageway)

How many people have passed this way and trod these steps?

This early 1900's "Free Classic" Victorian home has been owned by several different families, including the Walter Ellwangers. Ellwanger arrived in Selma in 1945 with his wife and three sons. He came to minister to the African-American community and become president of the former Alabama Lutheran Academy and College (now Concordia.) During that time, the family supplemented its income by renting rooms at the top of the stairs to teachers at Albert G. Parrish High School (now Selma High.) Later, Ellwanger was asked by other local ministers to provide shelter for a young Episcopal seminarian, Jonathan Daniels. The rest of that story is included in civil rights history books.

The PEW House is among nine homes that will be on tour during Selma's 35th Historic Pilgrimage.

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February Theme Day, Paths and Passages

If you happen to be dining on the terrace of the St. James Hotel (not shown), just follow the red brick path past the Bridge Tender's House (left) and make your way to the river overlook at Lafayette Park. This is the location where the first bridge crossed the Alabama River. That bridge was torn down to make way for the Edmund Pettus Bridge (background), which opened to traffic in 1940.
(Click on the photo to see a larger picture, and click HERE to view a similar photo taken in autumn.

There are more than 50 other City Daily Photo Bloggers participating in Theme Day.
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