This Memorial Day was spent honoring not only those who gave their lives defending their country, but also those who gave their lives earning the right to vote, a right that white men have enjoyed from the first days of the young democracy. I’ve always been disturbed by the reality that when they founders said “all men are created equal,” they meant all white land-owning men, and not women at all. It has also disturbed and surprised me that Memorial Day is taken fairly lightly in the South, more like Columbus Day than the national holiday it is. Shortly after I got to Winston, one of my staff took me aside and explained that Memorial Day was created to honor the Union dead and that was why not much was made of it. So, for instance, today is the first day of summer classes at Wake Forest, which would be unheard of in other parts of the country. And don’t even get me started on Labor Day, but, I digress….

When we finally got there after a few detours in the Alabama countryside, the Lowndes Interpretive Center turned out to be a lovely museum, though in a somewhat desolate setting. The film about the struggle for voting rights, culminating in the Selma to Montgomery march was the best piece I have ever seen. The message to young people and others who do not participate in voting was very strong: do not take this privilege lightly, as those who went before you died so you could have it.

While we were waiting for Ronnie to grill the burgers (thanks, Ronnie) I heard one of the guys say, “You know Ben Wallace? He’s from here. That’s his mother’s house behind there.” I know Ben Wallace to be the NBA star, formerly of my beloved Pistons but now with the Chicago Bulls. So I took this picture from a distance to show everyone back home.

After all the travel of the past few days, the holiday was a welcome change. We knew that most everything would be closed, so Dr. Hattery planned for us to visit a new facility on the Selma to Montgomery Trail, the Lowndes Interpretive Center, at the site of Tent City.

My day started out with a “touring” 5 mile run through downtown Montgomery. Because of the holiday, there was nobody in evidence. The area is mostly government buildings and so their employees had the day off. This made for a nice run, you could jog down the middle of the streets without worrying about traffic. I took my camera along and stopped to snap shots of landmarks (some are in our Flickr area).

We didn’t leave until 10:30 which made for a nice relaxing morning. The trip to the Center was classroom time with students delivering reports on Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Selma to Montgomery March. The highlight of the ride, however, was our visit to a truck stop to put gas in the bus. Dr. Hattery turned it into a contest to see who could come closest to guessing the cost of the gas and how many gallons it would take to fill the bus. We also had a stop in Hayneville to get groceries for our Memorial Day picnic. Hayneville is the town where Jonathan Daniels, an Episcopal Seminary student, was killed in 1965 by a local storeowner after being released from jail for his part in the boycotts of segregated facilities. We were shown an excellent documentary on Daniels as we rode along.

At the Interpretive Center, we viewed another well produced film, this one on the Selma to Montgomery March. Afterward, we visited the museum that documents the March. Right as we started, a gentleman approach us to ask who we were. This has happened several times, and Drs. Hattery and Smith have told us how these encounters can turn out to be the most educational spots in a planned activity. The man who talked with us is Bob Mants, who was and SNCC member and one of the four leaders of the March. His picture was in prominence on a wall mural. He was 22 when the March took place. The picture above shows Mr. Mants pointing to his younger image. It turns out he lives in the area, was driving by the Center, saw our bus, so turned in to see what group was visiting!

The day was hot, but while there, we had a great picnic complete with hot dogs, hamburgers, lots of chips and watermelon.