Triumph over Tragedy

Triumph over Tragedy Logo

We visited historic venues in Montgomery and Selma, Alabama, to chronicle the stories of racial segregation and the brave soul who inspired the movement that led to progress and change in the deep south.

Triumph over Tragedy takes you inside Dr. King’s church in Montgomery through the eyes of his parishioners.

We received access to Rosa Parks home and the Rosa Parks Museum, which honors her part in the Montgomery bus boycott that sparked the movement. A visit to the Freedom Rides Museum profiles the courage of the riders who were attacked and beaten for participating in protests objecting to preferential treatment for whites on interstate bus systems. The journey also takes us tot the church where the Montgomery Bus Boycott was organized and civil rights memorials and museums, as well as the Edmund Pettis Bridge.

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Freedom Rides Museum

Freedom Rides Museum

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The Freedom Rides Museum is located in the former Montgomery Greyhound Bus Station. Freedom Riders traveling by bus through the South to challenge segregation laws were attacked by a white mob at the station in 1961.

Mt. Zion AME Church

Mt. Zion AME Church

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From 1948-1952, Rev. Solomon Seay of Mt. Zion led t he Black community in early protests. During the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965, marchers rested at the church on their way to the capitol.

Rosa Parks Museum

Rosa Parks Museum

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The Rosa Parks Museum is located at Troy University’s satellite campus is Montgomery. Exhibits feature artifacts and information from the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Rosa Parks Apartment

Rosa Parks Apartment

Unit 534 was home to civil rights activist Rosa Parks, her husband Raymond, and her mother during the Montgomery Bus Boycott from 1955 to 1956.

Equal Justice Initiative and The Legacy Museum

Equal Justice Initiative and The Legacy Museum

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The Equal Justice Initiative is a non-profit organization, that provides legal representation to prisoners who may have been wrongly convicted of crimes, poor prisoners without effective representation, and anymore who may have been denied a fair trial.

Civil Rights Memorial Center

Civil Rights Memorial Center

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The Civil Rights Memorial Center has the names of 41 people inscribed on its granite fountain who were killed in the civil rights movement.

Dexter

Dexter King Memorial Baptist Church

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In 1954, Martin Luther King began his first full-time pastorship at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. The church is known for its years as the forefront of the Montgomery Bus Boycott & the Civil Rights Movement.

Edmund Pettus Bridge

Edmund Pettus Bridge

The Edmund Pettus Bridge is named after Edmund Pettus, a former Confederate general, and state level leader of the Ku Klux Klan. On March 7th, 1996, 600 civil rights marchers headed over the bridge out of Selma. The marchers were stopped and attacked with billy clubs and tear gas by state and local lawmen.