ORRVILLE — Old Cahawba Archaeological Park commemorates the upcoming 49th Anniversary of Bridge Crossing celebration with a tour showcasing the African American history of the park this weekend.

Old Cahawba Archaeological Park will conduct the first offering of a tour about the Old Cahawba’s African-American community following the Emancipation Proclamation Saturday at the park from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Led by Old Cahawba tour guide Dr. Jack Bergstresser, the tour through the park will highlight some of the sites that are associated with the Black community during the Reconstruction period.

“So little is known about the Black community here,” Bergstresser said.” We don’t want their voices and their lives to be forgotten, so this tourism is an effort to provide a window into that time.”

Participants of the tour will view a home that once belonged to a prominent person of the black community, the Negro Burial Ground, a schoolhouse where African Americans and much more.

“I think its opening people’s eyes to another part of Cahawba’s history that many people might not have realized,” Old Cahawba site director Linda Derry said.

Derry said people should be exposed to the African-American that the tour will have to offer Sunday.

“I guess it’s always good to broaden our perspective of things,” Derry said. “Some of them were not only important in Alabama history, but also American history.”

Bergstresser said he is confident that the tour will be educational for those that decide to be a part of it.

“I think that as far as Cahawba is considered this will be the tour that will make people aware of the role of African-American history,” Bergstresser said.

Tickets, which is $10 for adults and $8 for children, are available up until the time the tour begins.

For more information, call Bergstresser at 872-8058.