Center to host session on Wilcox’s voting role

Published 11:00 pm Thursday, May 26, 2016

The Selma Interpretive Center will host a session next month that will examine Wilcox County’s role in the voting rights movement.

“The Forgotten Freedom Summer of 1965: The Voting Rights Movement in Wilcox County” will be told by Maria Giten, a college freshman from California at the time of the movement.

Interpretive Park Ranger Theresa Hall said she believes those who attend will leave more knowledgeable with facts from someone who has real facts of what happened. “I think the story is so important because there are more counties than just than Dallas County who endured this. All of the surrounding counties were a part of the movement, and I think it needs to be recognized,” Hall said.

Email newsletter signup

She said within Gitin’s presentation, there would be images accompanying her story as well a segment for guests to ask questions.

Gitin will also sign copies of her book “This Bright Light of Ours: Stories from the Voting Rights Fight.”

According to www.thisbrightlightofours.com, the book offers an insider’s experience of the community-based activism that was the heart of the civil rights movement and is a celebration of grassroots heroes.

The presentation is free to the public and will be held June 6 at 2 p.m. the Selma Walton Theater, located at 1000 Selma Ave. in Selma.

For more information, contact Hall by phone at the Selma Interpretive Center at (334) 872-0509 of by email at theresa_hall@nps.gov.