A research team from Auburn University is working to identify those who marched alongside John Lewis across Edmund Pettus Bridge in the fight for voting rights in 1965. Professors Richard Burt and Keith Hébert have enlisted a group of Auburn Honors College students to use social media and help find those attacked by Alabama State Troopers on "Bloody Sunday."
"Our Honors College students are gaining experience communicating with diverse audiences as we all come together to collect and celebrate the heroic sacrifices those foot soldiers made in Selma on March 7, 1965," Hébert said. "Those learning opportunities will bode well for their future career endeavors as they help America build a diverse, inclusive and equitable society.”
The group has also received help from members of both the Selma City Council and Selma High school.
“Actually putting names to these faces is a game-changer,” Selma City Council Chairman Billy Young said. “We’re extremely enthusiastic about recording history this way, because for so long, these men and women who did so much never had their names provided. It means a great deal for Auburn and all the students and everyone to come together for this project."
The project recently was granted an additional $190,000 by the National Endowment for the Humanities to offer week-long workshops for 72 K-12 educators lead by Hébert and colleagues from Auburn University and other colleges.
