Voting Rights Foot Soldiers Honored
From the West Alabama Newsroom–Â President Obama signs a bill into law that honors the unsung heroes of the historic Selma to Montgomery marches with the Congressional Gold Medal.
The law honors the foot soldiers who participated in any of the Selma to Montgomery marches of 1965.
The National Voting Rights Museum in Selma has been telling the story of the foot soldiers of the voting rights struggle for years.
Sam Walker conducts tours at the museum.
“Everybody’s seen those pictures of Dr. King leading all those civil rights marches but then you see all these people walking in back of Dr. King in those marches, well those are the people we call the foot soldiers,” said Walker.
Peggy Marxem is visiting Selma from Wisconsin. She toured the museum Tuesday morning.
“Those people risked everything to do what they did to get the right to vote,” she said. “The price they paid was incredible and we should be honoring them.”
The bill to honor the foot soldiers was sponsored by Congresswoman Terri Sewell — who is a native of Selma.
