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Early Friday, a ceremony was held in downtown Selma to commemorate the life and legacy of Gen. Lafayette and the bicentennial anniversary of his visit to Dallas County.

The commemoration ceremony also included the unveiling of the latest historical marker, dedicated to Lafayette’s efforts in Alabama and the time he came to Selma.

“It was actually on April 5, 1825, nearly 200 years to the day, when Lafayette came to Selma, where he made a quick stop on the boat. The Henderson and the locals from Selma got on the boat to greet him and we wanted to memorialize that event,” said Julien Icher, Founder and President of the Lafayette Trail. “We wanted to memorialize such a significant event in history with one of our markers today, because we think it’s important to acknowledge that Lafayette stopped here.”

Icher said Lafayette is not just a revolutionary war hero, but he’s also a man that constantly advocated for equality and the right to self-determination for his entire life. Icher went on to say to the crowd at the honorary event that Lafayette has made his mission to oppose slavery.

“We think that there is a great affinity here between Lafayette’s preaching of universal principles in a century and what the Civil Rights Movement accomplished here on the behalf of all Americans 150 years later and also 1865. I think it’s an incredible historical opportunity to see here, to tell this incredible history and with this marker and the video called ‘Follow the Frenchman Episode 28,’ we’re going to do that for future generations.”

Icher said the marker is very symbolic to Lafayette and his role played in both national traditions.

“The Lafayette trail logo indicated on the marker has primary source documentation that supports the language on the document and it’s two sided with the exact same language on both sides,” Icher said. “We have over 177 markers, thanks to the William G. Palmer Foundation. We don’t call him the Marquis de Lafayette because that was his birth title, but he wanted to be called a general because he wanted to refer to his choice to serve for equality in the continental army of the American Revolution. We honor Lafayette’s delegation to this country and to what it represents. With the marker, we limit the text to a few characters because we believe these markers are not here to teach a full lesson but they are, at the same time, a pool of entry into a greater ecosystem of resources that are all free.”

Icher said people in Selma and those who visit Selma can learn more information about Lafayette and his legacy through their website, www.thelafayette.org.