Attachment22_SEMO_Long_Range_Interpretive_Plan.pdf

Attachment 22

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

LONG-RANGE INTERPRETIVE PLAN

SELMA TO MONTGOMERY

NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL

LONG-RANGE INTERPRETIVE PLAN

SELMA TO MONTGOMERY

NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL

JANUARY 2003

prepared by

Department of the Interior National Park Service

Selma to Montgomery NHT

Harpers Ferry Center Interpretive Planning

INTRODUCTION

TRAIL MISSION

TRAIL PURPOSE

SIGNIFICANCE

INTERPRETIVE THEMES

VISITORS/AUDIENCES

VISITOR EXPERIENCE GOALS

ISSUES AND INFLUENCES

RESOURCE-BASED INTERPRETIVE OPPORTUNITIES

EXISTING VISITOR EXPERIENCE

PERSONAL & NON-PERSONAL SERVICES QUALITIES

INTERPRETATION

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES

OVERALL TRAIL NEEDS

EDUCATION

TRAINING

LIBRARY/COLLECTION/RESEARCH NEEDS

OUTREACH

PARTNERSHIPS

AFFILIATED SITES

STAFFING

INITIAL PRIORITIES

PLANNING TEAM & CONSULTANTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPENDIX A: PROPOSED WAYSIDE EXHIBITS

APPENDIX B: SPECIAL POPULATIONS

NOTES

REFERENCES

On July 3, 1990 Congress directed the Secretary of the Interior (Public Law 101 -321) to study the route traveled by voting rights protestors in 1965 from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and to assess the eligibility, feasibility, and desirability of authorizing the route as a national historic or scenic trail. The Southeast Regional Office of the National Park Service (NPS) completed this assessment in 1993 and recommended that the 54 mile march route be established as a national historic trail as a component of the national trail system, administered by the NPS.

Congress responded by establishing the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail (SEMO) on November 12, 1996 through an amendment to the National Trails System (Public Law 104- 333). The Southeast Regional Office completed a booklet of Alternatives, titled "Alternatives Summary, Comprehensive Management Plan" in Fall, 1999. However, the booklet is not the Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP); SEMO and the Southeast Regional Office are currently in the process of devel-oping the CMP. The booklet summarizes three alternatives which pres-ent ideas for management, use and development of the trail. Of these three, Alternative C was chosen as the preferred alternative for imple-mentation.

Prior to National Historic Trail status, the Governor of Alabama desig-nated the 54-mile march route along US 80 as a National Scenic Byway on August 4, 1995. The Scenic Byways Program of the Inter-modal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) is administered by the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA). In January 1996, the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) recommended to the FHWA that the route be designated an All-American Road, a higher designation within the Scenic Byways Program. In 1997 the FHWA and the NPS entered into an agreement to coordinate and consolidate efforts for developing the route. ALDOT completed a Master Plan for the byway/road/trail in July 1999. All funding for developing the route is provided through the Scenic Byways Program.

This Long-Range Interpretive Plan (LRIP) will recommend interpretive and educational program strategies complementary with the CMP's management direction. It will be a component of the trail's Comprehensive Interpretive Plan (CIP) as directed by National Park Service policy document Director's Order #6. Together with the annual interpretive plan and the interpretive database (produced and main-tained by trail staff), the LRIP will provide direction and focus for the interpretive program for SEMO. This LRIP describes the historic trail's interpretive themes and visitor experiences, and recommends ways to

INTRODUCTION

facilitate those experiences through facility design, interpretive/infor-mational media, and personal services.

This Long-Range Interpretive Plan has been prepared in accordance with guidance for goal-driven, performance management (Government Performance Results Act of 1993[GPRA]). Planning for performance management will ensure that SEMO's daily interpretive/education actions are guided by established goals, and that performance can be measured and evaluated. This measurement will help SEMO determine how efficient and effective it is in fulfilling its mission.

INTRODUCTION

To preserve and interpret the history of the sites associated with the 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

TRAIL MISSION

Trail purpose is the reason or reasons for which a trail was established.

These statements are based on the trail's enabling legislation and leg-islative history. Purpose statements are important to planning because they are basic to all other assumptions about the trail and the ways in which it should be used and managed. Long term goals are identified to meet congressional intent and fulfill SEMO's purpose. These goals can then be measured and performance evaluated.

The purpose of Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail is to:

• Commemorate the events, people, and route of the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March of 1965 as a reminder of the right and responsibility of all Americans to fully participate in the election process, and that we must be ever vigilant in protecting our right to vote.

• Identify, preserve, and protect the historic route and resources that inform the world about the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March of 1965.

• Document, record, and interpret the story of the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March of 1965-including its antecedents and aftermath-in the context of the larger human and civil rights struggle and movement.

TRAIL PURPOSE

• Enhance, nurture, and develop broad partnerships between the National Park Service, state and local governments, educational institutions, and various citizen groups to fulfill the trail's other pur-poses, such as designation as a National Scenic Byway and All- American Road.

TRAIL PURPOSE

The significance of a trail is summarized in statements that capture the essence of the trail's importance to our natural and cultural heritage.

Significance statements are not the same as an inventory of significant resources. While the resource inventory can be the basis on which sig-nificance is determined, the significance statements describe the impor-tance or distinctiveness of the aggregate of resources along a trail.

Knowing the trail's significance helps set resource protection priorities, identify primary trail interpretive themes, and develop desirable visitor experiences. Statements of significance describe the distinctive values of SEMO's resources, why these values are important within a national context, and why they contribute to SEMO's purpose.

Significance statements for SEMO are:

• Events associated with the march from Selma to Montgomery and from what came to be known as "Bloody Sunday" sent shock waves around the world, raised the nation's consciousness, and convinced political leaders that the time had come for voting rights legislation.

• The Selma to Montgomery march was the major catalyst for passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The marchers brought the issue of voting rights to the forefront of the United States' political agenda, and their peaceful means won broad support for their cause.

SIGNIFICANCE

• Passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 five months after the Selma to Montgomery marches achieved the legal right to vote for all Americans, and forever changed the political life of the South and the United States as a whole. The Selma to Montgomery March remains one of the most significant civil rights protests in American history.

• The march route is the nation’s first National Historic Trail to also be designated a National Scenic Byway and All-American Road.

SIGNIFICANCE

Interpretive themes are based on a site's purposes, significance, and pri-mary resources. These themes are often described as the key stories or concepts that visitors should understand after visiting the trail. The themes provide the foundation for all interpretive programs and media developed. They do not include everything the trail may interpret, but they do cover those ideas that are critical to visitors' understanding of its significant resources. The interpretive themes for SEMO are:

1. The Selma to Montgomery March resulted in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which enfranchised citizens previously denied the right to vote. This act changed and continues to change the political, economic, and social fabric of American society.

2. Fighting against the evils of bigotry and hatred, individuals risked their lives and livelihoods for the right to vote, bringing greater value and meaning to the democratic process.

3. Courageous and committed individuals, working through a variety of community institutions and nationally recognized groups, played pivotal roles in bringing about vast change to the social and political landscape of American society for present and future generations.

4. Through the use of nonviolent protest, ordinary people worked to mobilize and sustain the modern civil rights movement, a movement that became an example for other worldwide democratic move-ments.

INTERPRETIVE THEMES

5. The struggle of African Americans to realize the dream and right of full citizenship as guaranteed by the United States Constitution forced this country to live up to its ideals of equality for all.

6. The cultural landscape and environment is reflective of the social, economic, and legal systems that resulted in the modern civil rights movement, images of which helped shape the national reaction and response.

7. Selma, Alabama was selected as the starting point of the Voting Rights March of 1965 because of the convergence of several crucial political, social, and economic factors, which were inclusive of its location/geography.

8. The efforts of those involved in the Selma to Montgomery March are part of the continuum within the civil and human rights struggle of African Americans from slavery to modern times.

INTERPRETIVE THEMES

Because SEMO is a relatively new unit of the National Park Service, it has no formal visitor facilities or programs, and little opportunity to col-lect data on current visitors and what expectations they may have. This is a first effort, by a knowledgeable group of professionals who have worked with visitors to the SEMO area and those who are seeking the SEMO story, to define some of the important potential visitor groups and some of their expectations and interests.

• Marchers and their families

- Validation of experience

- Recognition of their role in the events

• Young people

-Looking for "hands on" and interactive experiences

- Seeking highly visual and motivational experiences

-Generally have shorter attention spans

-Are active

- Respond to sounds in the environment

- Usually do not read a lot of text

- Want the "real stuff"

-Enjoy reenactments and want to participate

- Want things to take away (souvenirs)

• Researchers

-Are looking for documented facts

- Want to examine artifacts

- Want images of the events

- Want to experience authentic places

- Want primary source material

- Want personal staff attention

- Want information quickly

- May be interested in genealogy

- Want information summaries-tapes, etc.

VISITORS/AUDIENCES

• Education groups

- Want formal curricula indexed for the appropriate education level

- Seeking activities appropriate to grade level/interest

-Looking for outcomes consistent with established state and local education goals/guidelines

-Some students want continuing education units

-Can include Elderhostel groups

Characteristics of Grades K-3

- Basic information

- Short focused episodes

- Active

- Hands on -Oral

Characteristics of Grades 4-6 -Can handle more complexity -Longer programs

- Need reinforcing materials

Characteristics of Grades 7-9

- Developing writing skills

- Need context

- Need more disciplined activities -Civics emphasized in school systems

Characteristics of Grades 10-12

- Developing complex writing skills

Characteristics of College Students

- Issue oriented

- Specifically focused

- Active -Conduct research

- Interested in interview activities (i.e. oral history)

• Senior Citizens

-Can have accessibility issues

- Use tour guides

- May need emergency services

- Need places to sit

-Like organized activities

• Families

• People with disabilities

- Requirements of Americans with Disabilities Act

• History/Heritage visitors

-Are seeking in-depth information

-Are looking for authentic places/experiences

• Commercial Tour Groups

• Family Reunion Groups

• Incidental Visitors

- Travelers/motorists using U.S. 80 as a transportation corridor

Visitor experience goals are statements that describe those fundamental visitor experience opportunities which the trail, through its visitor serv-ices and interpretive program, most wants to facilitate. Visitors cannot be required to have certain experiences, but SEMO identifies important experiences that should be available to them. In planning facilities, interpretive media, and personal services, Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail will work to create and enhance the opportuni-ties for these experiences.

The common and unifying element to the designations of U.S. Highway 80 as both a National Historic Trail and National Scenic Byway/All- American Road is the route used for the 1965 voting rights march.

Therefore, the treatment of this route is of special importance to the vis-itor experience.

Visitors to SEMO will have opportunities to:

• Be immersed in the march story, both physically and emotionally, by walking, bicycling, and/or driving at low speeds along portions of the original route.

• Understand the march and its people, places, and events in the con-text of the modern civil rights movement and the evolution of citi-zenship rights in the United States.

• Easily access orientation and activity planning information.

VISITOR EXPERIENCE GOALS

• Either experience the essence of the trail and its stories at several locations, or without actually visiting any of the sites.

• Choose from a range of activities that vary in length and depth.

• Be inspired to be an advocate for civil and human rights in their own communities.

• Understand the contrast between the social and political climate of the modern civil rights era vs. today.

• Learn about all of SEMO's themes through a variety of well-main-tained interpretive media and quality interpretive services.

• Experience first hand accounts from the people who were a part of the 1965 Voting Rights Marches.

• Reflect on the modern civil rights era, the people, and social injus-tices.

• Experience authentic places related to the trail's history and signifi-cance.

• Understand and appreciate the value of the various trail corridor designations.

• Trace the original march route while driving the U.S. 80 corridor between Selma and Montomery, Alabama.

• Identifying the location of the historic march route and distinguish-ing it from non-historic portions of U.S. 80 built after 1965.

VISITOR EXPERIENCE GOALS

The following is a list of items which have an impact on the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail's abilities to reach its interpretive and visitor experience goals:

• Funding is inadequate to meet trail needs

• Political interest -abundance and/or lack thereof

• Need to adhere to federal and state regulations

• Disappearance/survival/preservation of trail resources

• People involved in the events are dying

• Need for communication between and among diverse groups

• Lack of education about resource preservation

• Clarify the differences between the National Historic Trail and Scenic Byway

• Visitor/highway safety concerns

• Sensitivity of story and people involved

• Potential for vandalism

• How to protect resources along the trail corridor

• Trail planning documents are needed

-Cultural Landscape Report

-Environmental Impact Statements

-Historic Resource Study

- Scope of Collections Statement

• Maintaining highway standards without compromising historical integrity of the trail

• Acquisition of collection items/physical property/viewshed ease-ments

• Establishing the trail's identity within the local/regional area

• Lack of sufficient signage

• Changing political environment

• Need for Memorandums of Agreement/documentation

• Lack of staffing to operate proposed facilities

ISSUES AND INFLUENCES

AFFECTING INTERPRETATION

• Develop new partnerships and strengthen existing ones

-Corps of Engineers

- Forest Service

-USDA

-ADECA

- Tourism and Travel organizations

-Educational Institutions

- Friends Groups

-Alabama Historical Commission

-Local Historical Societies

- Museums Rosa Parks Museum Tuskegee Sites Tuskegee Multicultural Center Marion County sites Others

• National Park Service does not own any property

• Capacity for trail maintenance

• Intellectual property protection and purchase

• Role of Scenic Byway and All-American Road designation in the vis-itor experience.

ISSUES/INFLUENCES

People come to units of the National Park System to experience their heritage in real places-where historic events actually happened or where superior natural resources and processes can be experienced first hand. As SEMO develops, the trail will need to provide interpretive and visitor experience opportunities in places (outside of and in addition to the facility-based opportunities provided in its yet to be developed interpretive centers) where there are resources connected to the inter-pretive stories the trail is charged with telling. The length of the trail and the broad scope of its stories make it difficult to decide where to begin developing these interpretive opportunities.

The following list identifies under each of SEMO's interpretive themes the three to four most important places per county where the trail should first begin to facilitate interpretive opportunities.

These sites are in addition to the three proposed interpretive centers which will be located at the Lowndes Interpretive Center site in Lowndes County, near the City of St. Jude in Montgomery County, and in downtown Selma in Dallas County.

RESOURCE-BASED INTERPRETIVE

OPPORTUNITIES

THEME 1:

The Selma to Montgomery March resulted in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which enfranchised citizens previously denied the right to vote. This act changed and continues to change the political, economic, and social fabric of American society.

Dallas County

• Edmund Pettus Bridge

• Brown Chapel AME Church, First Baptist Church, Cecil B. Jackson Public Safety Building, Sullivan Building, Dallas County Courthouse (Historic Walking Tour Sites on MLK, Jr. Street and Alabama Avenue)

• Dallas County Voters' League Office Lowndes County

• Camp Sites

• SNCC Freedom House Complex

• Lowndes County Jail (Hayneville 1965) Montgomery County

• Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church

• Mt. Zion AME Church

• Oak St., Jefferson Davis St., Day St., Mobile St., Holt St., Dexter Avenue Corridor

• Alabama State Capitol

THEME 2:

Fighting against the evils of bigotry and hatred, individuals risked their lives and livelihoods for the right to vote, bringing greater value and meaning to the democratic process.

Lowndes County

• Camp Sites

• SNCC Freedom House Complex

• Mt. Gilliard Baptist Church

• Viola Liuzzo Marker Montgomery County

• SNCC Freedom House

• Regal's Cafe

• Ben Moore Hotel Dallas County

• Edmund Pettus Bridge

RESOURCE-BASED INTERPRETIVE OPPORTUNITIES

• RB Hudson High School

• Good Samaritan Hospital

THEME 3:

Courageous and committed individuals, working through a variety of community institutions and nationally recognized groups, played pivotal roles in bringing about vast change to the social and political landscape of American society for present and future generations.

Dallas County Dallas County

• First Baptist Church

• Brown Chapel AME Church

• Dallas County Voters' League Office

• Edmund Pettus Bridge

• Amelia Boynton's Home Lowndes County

• SNCC Freedom House Complex

• Lowndes County Jail (Hayneville 1965)

• 2 Camp Sites (Steele & Gardner properties) Montgomery County

• Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church

• Mt. Zion AME Church

• Holt St. Baptist Church

THEME 4:

Through the use of nonviolent protest, ordinary people worked to mobilize and sustain the modern civil rights movement, a move-ment that became an example for other worldwide democratic movements.

Lowndes County

• US Highway 80

• SNCC Freedom House Complex

• Camp Sites

Montgomery County

• Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church

• First Baptist Church

• Bus Station

• Alabama State Capitol

Dallas County

• RB Hudson High School

• Selma University

• Dallas County Voters' League Office

THEME 5:

The struggle of African Americans to realize the dream and right of full citizenship as guaranteed by the United States Constitution forced this country to live up to its ideals of equality for all.

Montgomery County

• Dexter Avenue Parsonage

• Federal Courthouse

• Alabama State University Lowndes County

• Lowndes County Jail (Hayneville 1965)

• SNCC Freedom House Complex

• Lowndes County Courthouse Dallas County

• Amelia Boynton's Home

• Camp Selma

• Dallas County Voters' League Office

THEME 6:

The cultural landscape and environment is reflective of the social, economic, and legal systems that resulted in the modern civil rights movement, images of which helped shape the national reaction and response.

Lowndes County

• Calhoun School and Ramah Church

• US Highway 80 viewshed

• Mt. Zion Christian Church School Montgomery County

• Oak St, Jefferson Davis St., Day St., Mobile St., Holt St., Dexter

Avenue Corridor

• Highway 31

• Centennial Hill and Alabama State University Area Dallas County

• US Highway 80

• African American community voting rights area

• Cahaba (Alabama's first state capitol)

THEME 7:

Selma, Alabama was selected as the starting point of the Voting Rights March of 1965 because of the convergence of several crucial political, social, and economic factors, which were inclusive of its location/geography.

Dallas County

• Dallas County Voters' League Office

• Tabernacle Church

• Fathers of St. Edmonds Catholic Church Montgomery County

• Alabama State Capitol area

• Federal Courthouse

• Maxwell and Craig Air Force Bases Lowndes County

• US Highway 80

• Mt. Gilliard Baptist Church

• Bud Haralson's Store

THEME 8:

The efforts of those involved in the Selma to Montgomery March are part of the continuum within the civil and human rights struggle of African Americans from slavery to modern times.

Montgomery County

• Old Bus Station

• Alabama State Capitol

• Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church Dallas County

• "Bloody Sunday" Point of Confrontation Site

• Dallas County Courthouse

• Slave Auction Center Site Lowndes County

• Camp Sites

• Calhoun School and Ramah Church

• Mount Gilliard Missionary Baptist Church

Existing Conditions

The trail was established in 1996 and there are no National Park Service facilities or operations to be found along the 54-mile corridor.

The trail commemorates historic sites along or near the route which are significant to the march and the voting rights struggle. These sites are a testament to the hardships endured and courage displayed by those who organized, marched, and lived the modern civil rights movement.

The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail presents quite a chal-lenge for visitors and trail interpretation. There is no managed entry and exit experience, no centrally located interpretive center providing basic trail -wide thematic and wayfinding orientation, and no clear and con-sistent signage to get visitors easily onto the trail and to deliver them to significant and affiliated interpretive locations.

Since the trail has only recently been staffed, there is no reliable infor-mation concerning the actual number of visitors who travel the 54 miles of road seeking information about its historical significance. To date, no National Park Service visitor surveys have been conducted at the site and no monthly visitor use statistics compiled.

Any visitor use information is purely anecdotal and gathered from the various affiliated sites along the trail and from individuals in Dallas, Lowndes, and Montgomery Counties who conduct private tours.

Pre-Arrival

Information specifically concerning the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail is not readily available, for the site does not yet have a National Park Service unigrid brochure containing a trail map. The trail is noted in the National Park Service National Trails System Map and Guide. A brief description of the trail and its history is contained in the guide, however, the contact information is outdated.

Trail staff respond to a small, and growing, number of mail and phone requests by sending out packets of materials containing a copy of the Alternatives Summary for the Comprehensive Management Plan, a signed letter from the site manager, and a SEMO lapel pin and patch. A pre -visit package also includes an interim site bulletin to be distributed until development of a unigrid brochure can begin in fiscal year 2003, as

EXISTING VISITOR EXPERIENCE

well as a one-page handout containing updated SEMO information. A power point presentation is also available in CD format and provides information concerning the trail's mission and significance.

Trail brochures are requested, but the site does not have one for distri-bution. Some requests for information are forwarded from the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site headquarters or from the National Park Service's Southeast Regional Office in Atlanta. In addition, the trail headquarters has received specific requests by writers and researchers for information to aid in the development of articles pertaining to the voting rights march and the trail.

The park's web site contains very general information concerning the Selma to Montgomery voting rights march with additional information provided for "auto touring." Visitors are encouraged to drive the Highway 80 corridor from Selma to Montgomery and to contact the Chamber of Commerce in each community for sites of interest.

Historic sites along the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail are noted in several publications. A booklet produced by the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel, Alabama's Black Heritage, describes locations in Dallas, Lowndes, and Montgomery Counties. A brochure entitled, Central Alabama's Black Heritage Trail, identifies sites in Selma, Montgomery, and Tuskegee.

It should also be noted that the Alabama Department of Transportation has produced newsletters in the past which provided information con-cerning the site's designation as a National Historic Trail, All-American Road, and Scenic Byway. Items discussed in previous newsletters included the draft Master Plan, development of the Lowndes Interpretive Center site, composition of the Trail Advisory Council, and notice of public hearings.

Approaches

The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail begins in Selma and follows US Route 80 west through Lowndes County, then US Route 65 north to the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery.

However, most visitors experience the trail from Montgomery to Selma without the assistance of any interpretive information. Without having received advance information, the majority of visitors see sites related to Rosa Parks and Montgomery's bus boycott history at the Rosa Parks Museum and of Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. There are numerous affiliated sites in the city which are designated by state historical markers, but locating them and navigating through city streets can be difficult and frustrating. This arduous experience can continue as visitors attempt to follow the trail from downtown Montgomery to US Route 65, then to US Route 80.

There is a distinct lack of signage and signage that does exist can be mis-leading, such as "future site of exposition area."

Once visitors do make their way onto US Route 80, the only signage which exists, beyond the occasional markers with the trail logo, are those which denote the locations of the campsites along the march route. Also found along Route 80 is the Viola Liuzzo marker in Lowndes County, which commemorates the white Detroit housewife who was shot and killed by Ku Klux Klan members on March 25, 1965 while returning to Montgomery to shuttle march participants back to Selma.

Upon Arriving in Selma, a visitor can cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge and find his/her way to the local tourism office, the National Voting Rights Museum, or the Selma Historical Society Museum for further information.

Along the Trail Route

A brochure developed by the City of Selma with assistance from the National Park Service's Office of Rivers, Trails, and Conservation takes visitors on a self-guided walking tour of historic Martin Luther King, Jr.

Street which includes thirteen wayside exhibit panels. The panels do not utilize NPS Harpers Ferry Center planning and design standards, are faded and damaged, and in need of replacement. The Selma/Dallas County Chamber of Commerce also distributes a self-guiding brochure describing Selma's Legacy of Black Heritage.

The Selma Chamber of Commerce occasionally arranges volunteer-led tours for organizations. The National Voting Rights Museum is a visitor destination for those seeking specific information pertaining to the vot-ing rights struggle.

Site - specific informational handouts are available for sites in Montgomery, such as the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. This is Martin Luther King Jr.'s first church, where he was launched into the modern civil rights movement, and which brought him on March 25, 1965 to the steps of the Alabama State Capitol to secure voting rights. Located along the trail route, the church offers tours six days a week, excluding Sunday. A video describing the church's history is shown to visitors, and a presentation given concern-ing a church mural. Current visitation is approximately 15,000/year.

The Rosa Parks Museum is also a visitor destination for those seeking more information about the modern civil rights movement. Located on the campus of Montgomery's Troy State University, the museum recently opened and hosted an exhibit of Spider Martin photographs chronicling the Selma to Montgomery voting rights march.

Currently there are no organized tours of the Selma to Montgomery NHT in Montgomery. The city of Montgomery offers a Black Heritage Trail tour brochure, which includes some sites related to the trail, but the main focus of the tour is not voting rights and the march itself.

Individuals in all three counties through which the trail traverses do offer customized tours for organizations and school groups at their request. Tour itineraries vary.

Interpretive messages can be delivered in a variety of formats. Each has qualities which make it more or less suitable for a given application.

Personal Services Personal interpretive services are those in which staff interact with vis-itors. Examples of personal services programs include the staffing of visitor/interpretive centers, talks, illustrated programs, conducted activ-ities, special events, and educational programs. These programs take into consideration audience characteristics and available time.

Personal services that are most suitable for inclusion in the interpretive program are those that have been identified as potentially being the most successful in facilitating an exploration of the meanings inherent in the site. Personal services enable a direct human to human connec-tion which is often more enjoyable to visitors than communication by impersonal media. These services can easily be customized to meet vis-itor needs or changing conditions, can be interactive, versatile, and effective.

Non-Personal Services Non-personal interpretive services are those that do not require the presence of staff and can reach large audiences in a consistent way.

Media such as exhibits, publications, and audiovisual presentations are some examples.

Exhibits

Good content, presentation, and execution make a good exhibit. This exhibit is story or idea driven, rather that object or collection driven. A balance will be determined between objects and story. Content must be accurate, represent multiple points of view, and be evaluated for appro-priateness for visitors. The presentation should engage the visitor, appeal to different learning styles, and apply exhibit display techniques effectively. The presentation should logically organize, clarify, and sup-port the content.

Exhibits can be viewed at a visitor's own pace and can transcend lan-guage and cultural barriers. They can promote the use of the senses and visitor participation. Exhibits can provide experiences of varying com-plexity, allowing visitors to select the level of information they choose.

PERSONAL AND NON-PERSONAL

SERVICES QUALITIES

Elements of exhibit presentation can include a variety of the following:

text, photography, graphic design, original art/illustrations, artifact dis-plays, models and reproductions, other three-dimensional elements such as topographic maps, mannequins, or dioramas, as well as audio-visual and computer interactive elements.

Exhibit space should be zoned to protect artifacts. Objects can be arranged in one general area or a specific display case in order to ensure an appropriate level of security, adequate climate control, and protec-tion from harmful ultraviolet light.

Front-end, formative, and summative evaluation should be an integral component of the exhibit planning process. Front-end evaluation con-centrates on getting inputs from potential visitors by means of inter-views and/or focus groups to find out what kinds of information they need and would like to know, and how this information could be pre-sented in a meaningful, interesting, and cost-effective way. Formative evaluation will help ensure that what design and content elements are proposed for an exhibit will be effective with the audience through the testing of prototypes. In a comprehensive evaluation program, summa-tive studies often reveal problems that were not, or could not be, iden-tified during the earlier stages of development. Consistent and progres-sive evaluation will lead to more effective and compelling exhibits, thus reducing the likelihood that new exhibits will be misunderstood or ignored by the visiting public.

Audiovisual

Audiovisual media is well suited to the presentation of chronological and sequential material. It can capture realism, provide emotional impact, and create a mood or atmosphere. Also, it can reach many vis-itors at one time and be portable for off- site use. Audiovisual elements may also be included in exhibits, in addition to being shown in dedicat-ed theater spaces.

Wayside Exhibits

Wayside exhibits will offer visitors immediate and meaningful informa-tion tailored to site-specific events of the march. Outdoor exhibits have the advantage of direct site association and help visitors make connec-tions with the persons, events, and places identified by the panels. They will enable visitors to experience the park and historic events firsthand.

Additionally, waysides will help establish the trail's identity by simply providing visitors with the knowledge that they are in a National Park Service site. Wayside exhibits offer low tech, visually compelling inter-pretation 24 hours each and every day.

PERSONAL/NON-PERSONAL SERVICES

Publications

Publications are portable, can be used before going to a site, during the visit, or after returning home. They can be produced at various levels of detail, can be read at a visitor's own pace, can treat a subject in-depth, and are suited to presenting sequential or complex material.

PERSONAL/NON-PERSONAL SERVICES

The promise of America culminated in the mid-twentieth century in a heroic campaign we call the modern civil rights movement. This move-ment sought the attainment of full citizenship for African Americans in the United States. Specifically, the movement focused on efforts to gain political, social, and economic rights such as equal education, access to places of public accommodation and transport, equal housing and employment opportunities, and the right to vote and hold political office. Generally acknowledged as beginning in the mid-1950s with the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas Supreme Court deci-sion and the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott, the movement gained full momentum during the late 1950s and 1960s. The 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights march has been identified by historians and movement participants as one of the last great protests of the modern civil rights movement.2

The modern civil rights movement involved many players, at both the national and local levels. Primarily a grassroots effort involving thou-sands of ordinary people - men and women, adults and children, black and white - the struggle drew both participants and leaders from exist-ing organizations such as churches, labor organizations, and schools and colleges.3

The mission of the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail is to preserve and interpret the history of the sites associated with the 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. In an effort to dramatize to the nation and the world the need for voting rights leg-islation, a peaceful, nonviolent march from Selma to Montgomery was planned. On March 7, 1965, marchers set out from Brown Chapel AME Church towards Montgomery. Just beyond the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, they were brutally beaten by law enforcement officers. This bloody and horrendous event was televised to all across the nation. Two days later, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a second march from Brown Chapel AME Church which was peacefully turned around from the point of confrontation near the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Then on March 21, 1965, marchers, under the protection of the National Guard, left Brown Chapel AME Church and, after five days and fifty-four miles, successfully made their way to the steps of the state capitol. This monu-mental event that was captured by the media brought the struggle of voting rights for African Americans to the forefront of the nation's con-scious. As a result, Congress enacted legislation that would guarantee voting rights for all Americans. Subsequently, President Lyndon B.

Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965, thus changing forever the American political landscape.

INTERPRETATION

At times history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending search for freedom. So it was at

Lexington and Concord. So it was a century ago at Appomattox. So it was last week in Selma, Alabama. There is no Negro problem. There is no southern problem. There is no northern problem. There is only an

American problem …Every American citizen must have the right to vote…

It is wrong - deadly wrong - to deny any of your fellow Americans the right to vote in this country. There is no issue of States' rights or National rights.

There is only the struggle for human rights.

- President Lyndon B. Johnson Introducing the Voting Rights Act to Congress, March 15, 1965

INTERPRETATION

The following is a description of program and media recommendations designed to provide direction and focus for the future interpretive pro-gram for the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail.

The discussion of each program or media proposal identifies its pur-pose, special considerations, and sometimes suggests means of presen-tation. It is important to remember that the latter are only suggestions, and should not in any way limit the creativity that is essential during the program and media development processes.

It is essential that the trail initiate and maintain a continuous dialogue with members of the friends groups for Dallas, Lowndes, and Montgomery counties, many of whom are veterans of the march and the modern civil rights movement. Maintaining open communication is also important with federal and state agencies, local officials, educational institutions and surrounding communities regarding the planning, design, and production of theme-related interpretive media and pro-grams.

Orientation and Information

Information regarding the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail will continue to be provided through traditional means by answering written and phone requests.

The current one-page informational handout can be expanded to a newsletter, similar in format to that produced in the past by the Alabama Department of Tourism. A useful addition to a pre -visit package, the newsletter would be an avenue for providing more detailed information to visitors and stakeholders.

Arrival and Signage

Staff at this new and developing site have recognized the importance of adequate signage, and have thus developed a sign plan for the trail. To better establish the trail as a National Park Service site, sizeable and attractive signage and pull-offs are needed at each end of the trail (including both ends of Route 80) to orient visitors even if they do not travel its length. Trail entry points should be established and the trail clearly marked from either direction. Signage is also needed to link affiliated sites that are not directly on the trail.

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES

Improved signage is needed to direct visitors from downtown Montgomery to US Route 80. Directional signage should be standard-ized along the trail route and every effort should be made to work with local communities and organizations to ensure consistency with affiliat-ed sites. All applicable Alabama Department of Transportation guide-lines should be followed.

Access and the Landscape

Every effort should be made to help visitors experience landscapes in beneficial, enjoyable, and sustainable ways, and relate those experiences to more intangible values, meanings, and traditions. Interpretation can be linked to the landscape's ability to convey the past through its char-acter and defining features. Landscapes need to be considered when addressing visitor experience goals, significance, and interpretive themes.

Presently there is no safe continuous pedestrian or bicycle access to the trail. This is a visitor experience that should be paramount in the devel-opment of the trail. Many visitors will be approaching the trail in a "pil-grimage-like" frame of mind and will want to walk or bike a portion or the entire 54 mile route. At a minimum, a walking and biking experience should be available from each of the three proposed interpretive cen-ters.

Safe visitor access must be provided at important interpretive sites along the trail. Many will require safe auto pullouts, parking spaces, land-scaping and mobility-impaired visitor access. These sites are noted in the draft wayside exhibit plan.

Interpretive Centers (Selma, Lowndes, Montgomery)

The function of a NPS interpretive center is to orient visitors to the site and area resources, services, and attractions. Another purpose is to interpret the trail story, as described by interpretive themes, and provide an overview of that story by emphasizing those story elements that are best told by indoor interpretive media. On-site educational programs will be offered at the interpretive centers, as well as at other trail loca-tions and off- site venues. These facilities provide a focus, point of con-tact, and spatial and visual identity for a site.

The facility should be located close to or within primary visitor activity areas and be accessible to people with disabilities. Visitor reactions to the built environment should be consistent with visitor experience goals. There should be sufficient and suitable space maintained accord-ing to sustainability guidelines.

Orientation Exhibit Visitors arriving in Selma, Lowndes Interpretive Center, or Montgomery may or may not have already traveled the length of the trail, received information at one of the NPS interpretive centers, stopped to read wayside exhibits, or visited an associated site. Upon arriving at one of the interpretive centers, the public may not be aware of the diversity and extent of trail resources. A standard orientation exhibit that is replicated in all trail interpretive centers can help visitors gain a better understanding of the trail's resources and their locations relative to each other. Visitors can locate themselves in the physical context of the march as well as orient themselves chronologically in the march story. This orientation should stand apart from the primary exhibit space so visitors can have a very general context of the march story prior to experiencing the exhibition.

This exhibit will be designed to work in conjunction with other orien-tation tools, including the following: park unigrid brochure, wayfinding signage, wayside orientation exhibits, and personal services orientation.

A hierarchy of orientation elements will be presented, such as safety information, points of entry, etc. Orientation exhibits should be changeable, to accommodate updated trail information and various sites.

An element of the standard orientation exhibit can be an enlarged map that indicates all trail resources and associated areas. The map will be based on, and congruent with, the park unigrid brochure and wayside orientation maps. Due to its larger scale, the standard orientation exhibit map can show more details and have accompanying photo-graphs and text regarding specific sites.

An orientation map to other civil rights sites in the region should be at all three interpretive center facilities as well.

Experience Organizer This visitor experience organizing tool is intended to help visitors make informed choices regarding the sites and facilities they can potentially visit, depending on their length of stay and interests. Using brief text and associated visuals, this exhibit will use time estimates and visitor experience categories (if you have two hours and are interested in…) as its primary organizing principles. It may suggest logical visitor experi-ence groupings, such as "sites related to early civil rights organizing efforts," or "churches associated with the march." Therefore, it is a log-ical companion to the standard orientation exhibit (described above) which shows where all visitor experiences are located. The experience organizer should also be replicated in all trail interpretive centers. This exhibit will inform visitors about any time-sensitive decisions they may need to make, such as the closing hours of various sites along the trail and the times of any guided tours, either NPS or partner provided.

Wayfinding Signage In order to experience the trail, a visitor must be able to navigate through unfamiliar streets. Well-designed, effective wayfinding is essential to an experience where a visitor can focus attention on the content of the story, rather than the anxiety of navigation. A series of upright panels or trailhead type markers to be used strictly for navigational purposes could be placed in several locations in Selma and Montgomery.

SPECIFIC SITE RECOMMENDATIONS

The following describes interpretive recommendations for specific sites along the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail, beginning chronologically and sequentially with Selma in Dallas County, then moving on to Lowndes Interpretive Center and Lowndes County, and concluding, as the march did, in the city of Montgomery. Specific rec-ommendations will be made for the three proposed interpretive center facilities in each county, then affiliated sites. Recommendations have also been developed for personal and non-personal interpretive servic-es which are important for the site as a whole.

Because this story is one in America's recent past, the National Park Service has a unique opportunity to have it be told by those who lived history less than forty years ago. The significance of the changes in American society as a result of the modern civil rights movement can-not be underestimated. A floodlight was turned upon a dark corner of our collective history and we as a people would never be the same. This is a story wrought with emotion, an example of what individuals can accomplish when striving for justice, working with each other in times of challenge and controversy, fighting the evils of bigotry, hatred, misun-derstanding, and silence. It is a universal story which reminds us of all of that has been accomplished and all that remains to be done.

The greatest challenge to interpreting this internationally significant historic trail is to ensure that visitors clearly understand how to best experience the resources and those of associated sites. The significance and uniqueness of the sites and stories in each county should be empha-sized and how they relate to the events surrounding the march and the larger story of the modern civil rights movement and American history.

The National Park Service sites should complement each other, build expectations for visitors, and facilitate that experience. Interpretive efforts must seek to avoid redundancy and strive to create different experiences that weave the whole story together.

Visitors will learn the human stories of struggle and victory. The mean-ing of the march, both then and now, will be placed in historical context.

This is a site for reflection and of healing. Visitors should leave the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail feeling that they have walked on hallowed ground.

Universal Concepts All NPS sites have tangible resources like physical features, buildings, and artifacts, as well as intangible resources like past events, people, sys-tems, ideas, and values. Effective interpretation can be described as linking tangible resources to intangible resources that center around universal concepts, in order to reveal meanings. Universal concepts are intangible resources that, in one form or another, are common to all people. Not everyone will agree on the meaning of or share the same perspectives towards a universal concept, but all people will relate to the concept in some significant way. Universal concepts make meanings accessible and the resource relevant to a widely diverse audience.

SEMO Universal Concepts This is not meant to be an all-inclusive list, but rather examples provid-ed to generate discussion and additional concepts amongst trail staff.

Oppression/deprivation/fear/frustration/determination/faith/love/hate/…