In this Book

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In 1989, Alston Fitts published a brief history of the city of Selma, Alabama, from its founding through the aftermath of the civil rights movement. Selma: A Bicentennial History is a greatly revised and expanded version of Fitts’s history of the city, replete with a wealth of new, never-before-published illustrations, which further develops a number of significant events, corrects critical errors, and, most importantly, incorporates many new stories and materials that document Selma’s establishment, growth, and development.
 
Comprehensive, thoroughly researched, and nonpartisan, Fitts’s pleasantly accessible history addresses every major issue, movement, and trend from the city’s settlement in 1815 to the end of the twentieth century. Its commerce, institutions, governance, as well as its evolving racial, religious, and class composition are all treated with candor and depth. Selma’s transformative role within the state and the nation is fully explored, and most notable is a nuanced and complex discussion of race relations from the rise of the civil rights era to modern times.
 
Historians, scholars, and Alabamians will find great use for this updated and fully developed exploration of Selma’s rich, complex, and significant history.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Title Page, Copyright, Dedication
  2. pp. i-vi
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. vii-viii
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  1. List of Illustrations
  2. pp. ix-xiv
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  1. Preface
  2. pp. xv-xviii
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  1. 1. Selma in Pioneer Days: “Moore’s Bluff ” Strives to Make the Big Time, 1819–1845
  2. pp. 1-25
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  1. 2. The Queen City Grows As Storm Clouds Gather, 1844–1861
  2. pp. 26-50
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  1. 3. Secession and Civil War: Selma, Arsenal of the Confederacy
  2. pp. 51-85
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  1. 4. Rebuilding and Reconstruction: Selma Rises from the Ashes, 1865–1880
  2. pp. 86-118
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  1. 5. The Queen City Resumes Her Throne: Selma, 1880–1912
  2. pp. 119-164
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  1. 6. The Decline of the Cotton Kingdom: Selma, 1912–1939
  2. pp. 165-198
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  1. 7. World War II and After: Selma, 1939–1963
  2. pp. 199-236
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  1. 8. Selma, Birthplace of Equal Voting Rights: The Queen City in Crisis, 1963–1968
  2. pp. 237-273
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  1. 9. The Queen City Recovers Its Poise: Selma, 1968–1988
  2. pp. 274-306
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  1. 10. More Bridges to Cross: Selma, 1989–2008
  2. pp. 307-333
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  1. Epilogue: What Bridges Lie Ahead?
  2. pp. 334-336
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  1. Selected Bibliography
  2. pp. 337-342
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 343-361
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