Edmund Pettus Bridge 75th year of usage

The central span of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 2010.
Carries US-80
Crosses Alabama River
Design Through arch bridge
Total length 1,248.1 feet (380.4 m)
Width 42.3 feet (12.9 m)
Longest span 250 feet (76 m)
Number of spans 7
Piers in water 4
Vertical clearance 14.8 feet (4.5 m)
Construction begin 1939
Construction end 1940
Opened May 25, 1940
Daily traffic 17,720
Coordinates
32°24′20″N 87°01′07″W

Edmund Pettus Bridge
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Location Selma, Alabama
Built 1939
Governing body State
NRHP Reference # 13000281
Added to NRHP February 27, 2013
The Edmund Pettus Bridge is a bridge that carries U.S. Route 80 across the Alabama River in Selma, Alabama. Built in 1940, it is named for Edmund Winston Pettus, a former Confederate brigadier general, Democratic Party U.S. Senator from Alabama and Grand Dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan. The bridge is a steel through arch bridge with a central span of 250 feet (76 m). There are nine large concrete arches supporting the bridge and roadway on the east side.

The Pettus Bridge was the site of the conflict of Bloody Sunday on March 7, 1965, when armed officers attacked peaceful civil rights demonstrators attempting to march to the state capital of Montgomery.

The bridge was declared a National Historic Landmark on March 11, 2013
Edmund Winston Pettus was born in Limestone County, Alabama, to John Pettus and Alice Taylor Winston in 1821. He graduated from a public high school and attended Clinton College. He then went on to Tuscumbia, Alabama, to study law and was admitted into the state's bar association in 1842. In 1844 he was elected to serve in the seventh Judicial Circuit of Alabama as a solicitor. From 1847-1849 he served as a lieutenant with the Alabama Volunteers during the Mexican–American War. From 1854 he served as a judge in the seventh Judicial Circuit of Alabama, until resigning in 1858. After resigning as judge he went back to Selma, Alabama where he again practiced law. Following the outbreak of the American Civil War he served with the 20th Regiment Alabama Infantry, eventually attaining the rank of brigadier general in 1863 and being assigned a command in the Army of Tennessee. Following the war he resumed his law practice in Selma. At that time he also led the Alabama Ku Klux Klan. He was residing in Selma when he was elected as a United States Senator from Alabama in 1897 and 1903. He died in 1907. Edmund's brother John was also an Alabama politician.

Film

Bloody Sunday, the first of the Selma to Montgomery marches, as well as the events of the second march, were re-enacted on the bridge and depicted in the film Selma (2014).

Literature

Marilyn Miller's non-fiction book, The Bridge at Selma (Turning Points in American History) (1989), "describes the far-reaching repercussions of the events of March 7, 1965 when 525 men, women, and children in Alabama attempted to march from Selma to the state capitol in Montgomery in order to register to vote."^[12]

Radio

Bloody Sunday, details about Edmund Pettus, and pro and con opinions about renaming the bridge are discussed in the All Things Considered episode, "The Racist History Behind The Iconic Selma Bridge (March 5, 2015).

"Edmund Pettus Bridge". National Register of Historic Places Program. National Park Service."AMERICA'S GREAT OUTDOORS: Secretary Salazar, Director Jarvis Designate 13 New National Historic Landmarks". US Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2013-03-11."PETTUS, Edmund Winston - Biographical Information". Bioguide.congress.gov. 1907-07-27. Retrieved 2010-08-22.Friday, Mar. 19, 1965 (1965-03-19)."Nation: The Central Points". TIME. Retrieved 2010-08-22.Friday, Mar. 19, 1965 (1965-03-19)."Nation: The Central Points". TIME. Retrieved 2010-08-22."We Shall Overcome - The Cost". Nps.gov. Retrieved 2010-08-22."Civil Rights Division Home Page". Justice.gov. 2008-07-25. Retrieved2010-08-22.United States Department of Justice website.Jet - Google Books. Books.google.com. 1995-03-27. Retrieved 2010-08-22.Jet - Google Books. Books.google.com. 2005-03-28. Retrieved 2010-08-22.Heath, Thomas (1996-07-01). "After Three Decades, Selma Sees the Light; Torch Crosses Bridge Between Peace, Violence". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. Retrieved 2010-08-22.Miller, Marilyn (June 1, 1989). The Bridge at Selma. Silver Burdett Press.ISBN 9780382068263.Peeples, Melanie (March 5, 2015)."The Racist History Behind The Iconic Selma Bridge". All Things Considered.