These are diary entries that I wrote throughout my ten-day Sojourn to the Past trip on February 14-23. Each entry is posted here two weeks after it was originally written, due to the provision that I didn’t have any computer or internet access during my trip. Be sure to check out my other Sojourn to the Past coverage. Enjoy.

Today was our fourth and last day in Atlanta, marking the end of the “slow” part of the trip. We got to meet a number of people today, and then took the three hour drive to Selma, Alabama (gaining an hour in the process, courtesy of the genius invention of time zones).

We started out the morning learning about the Rev. Jim Reeb, who was killed in Selma by a Klan member on the evening of Tuesday, March 9th, 1965. He was a white minister in the movement and his death attracted national attention. We then got to meet Rev. Clark Olsen (who was a minister in Berkeley, by the way), who was walking next to Jim Reeb when they were attacked. It was very interesting getting to hear him tell us about his experiences during the movement.

We then went back to the King Center in Atlanta for a third time, and had the opportunity to go through their gift shop. This shop is the only place where you can purchase recordings of every speech Dr. King ever made, and between that and some other things, I wound up spending $75 there.

Then, at the auditorium in King Center, we met Congressman John Lewis (D-GA). He was the chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the sixties, and had been co-leader of the Bloody Sunday march in Selma on March 7, 1965. He was a very interesting and informational speaker, and he was a true first hand witness and participant in the Civil Rights Movement. He talked about his roles in the movement as well as the other people he worked with, many of whom have been martyred. It was particularly great to be able to personally meet him and shake his hand at the end of the presentation.

After that, we had the three hour drive to Selma, which mostly served the purpose of me taking a nap and getting some of the homework done.

We’re rooming tonight in the St. James Hotel in Selma, which dates to the 1880s and is right next to the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge (more on that tomorrow). Our group is so large (and this place relatively small) that we’re taking up the entire hotel tonight. However, we had an awesome dinner that actually tasted like real food, and that was awesome. We then concluded the day with a lesson on the entire Selma voting rights movement.

Tomorrow will be a sixteen hour day with a lot going on. We’ll be having a walking tour of Selma, including walking over the bridge, and then move on to Montgomery, where we will be going out to a number of museums and memorials, getting in at 11:00. I’m rearing up for a big day…

Tags: Atlanta, Clark Olsen, diaries, Jim Reeb, John Lewis, Montgomery, Selma, Sojourn to the Past, speakers, voting rights movement