St. Jude Interpretive Center and Garden to Open Next Week
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When Alabama State University was awarded the Montgomery Interpretive Center over the City of St. Jude, officials with the historic site decided to build their own memorial center. Now, it’s just days away from opening to the public.
The City of St. Jude was the final resting point for those marching from Selma to Montgomery. And officials want to make sure that is not forgotten. So they’ve built an area on their campus that tells their story.
Construction on a Civil Rights reflective garden began last October. Now, the garden is just about complete. Bricks with the names of those who were a part of the movement, many of them Catholic leaders, make up the garden’s walkway.
“The Catholics really even went against the grain of some of their own parishioners that didn’t want to come, that didn’t appreciate them coming here,” says Douglas Watson, Executive Director of St. Jude.
Watson says Catholics played a pivotal role in the Selma to Montgomery March by assisting marchers with healthcare and shelter.
“We’re real proud of our collection.”
New walls, lighting, memorabilia and one-of-a-kind photographs are now inside of the interpretive center. Alabama News Network was not allowed to film close-ups of any photographs, which Watson says have never before been seen.
“We actually had a guy just the other day call us and he was from Vermont and his father-in-law was here in 1965 so he asked us would we be willing to share his photos and he sent us a whole reel of color shots.”
And a new stage, which replicates the stage performers used in 1965, is also being constructed behind the center.
