On March 8, 2026, a national coalition of civil rights leaders, preservation advocates and community members will gather in Selma, Alabama, to commemorate the 61st anniversary of Bloody Sunday at the historic Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The event marks a milestone in the nation’s Civil Rights Movement and recalls the 1965 march led by Congressman John Lewis and Reverend Hosea Williams, when law enforcement officers attacked peaceful protesters on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Television coverage of the assault galvanized national support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
In the week leading up to the commemoration service, Brown Chapel AME Church will temporarily reopen its historic sanctuary, which has been closed to the public since 2020 after officials discovered extensive structural damage. In 2025, the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a division of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, awarded the church a $1 million grant through its Preserving Black Churches program to help ensure the sanctuary could reopen for the 2026 commemoration. Crews expect to complete full restoration in late Fall 2026.
As the nation reflects on the anniversary, the Action Fund, Brown Chapel AME and a coalition of preservation and civil rights organizations will host events celebrating the sanctuary’s restoration, the church’s legacy of activism and the role preservation plays in telling the nation’s full history. RSVP is required. Event details are below.
“Brown Chapel AME is a cultural treasure and a living testament to our nation’s history and democracy. As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, the Action Fund and its partners are helping to ensure this historic church’s role in guaranteeing all Americans have the right to vote is cemented as part of that story,” said Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and strategic adviser to the chief executive officer of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “After nearly six years of extensive preservation work to save this iconic space, I am thrilled that the 61st Bloody Sunday commemoration service will take place in Brown Chapel’s sanctuary once more and that current and future generations will share in the legacy of those who organized and marched for our freedom in 1965.”
“On this sixty-first commemoration of Bloody Sunday, we honor the worshippers who prayed, praised and planned here, and the spirit of the foot soldiers who marched from this church house across the Edmund Pettus Bridge and eventually on to Montgomery seeking voting rights, civil rights, human rights and the right to full American citizenship. That witness and that spirit and that faith still resides here and still rises from here,” said Brown Chapel AME Pastor Leodis Strong. “We offer deep and eternal gratitude to the Action Fund. Its generous investment affirms that Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church is not simply a church or an historic relic. Brown Chapel is a living, breathing testimony to the power of faith in action.”
“Historic Brown Chapel AME Church has served as a leader in the fight for social, civic and economic justice and as a beacon in the local community,” said Joyce O’Neal, steward pro tempore of historic Brown Chapel AME Church and a witness to Bloody Sunday in 1965. “The church has always reached out to the surrounding community by providing much-needed resources. The restoration will allow us to continue and increase our efforts. It is more than exciting to return to the sanctuary. Kudos to the members who have stayed the course, and many thanks to the National Trust, the National Park Service, Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell and all who have helped make the restoration possible. Most of all we praise God for His faithfulness.”
Built in 1908 by formerly enslaved builder A.J. Farley, Brown Chapel AME Church has served as both a house of worship and a platform for civil rights activism. The church served as the launching ground for the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery marches and as a sanctuary for leaders including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Congressman John Lewis.
In 2022, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Brown Chapel AME one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places after the church closed to the public because of structural damage. A coalition led by the Action Fund, Brown Chapel AME and the National Park Service mobilized to restore the sanctuary. The Action Fund has invested more than $1.3 million to help ensure the Civil Rights Movement landmark remains accessible to future generations.
Crews continue restoration work, but substantial progress will allow the sanctuary to reopen temporarily for the Bloody Sunday commemoration. Officials expect to complete the project in late Fall 2026.
Through its Preserving Black Churches program, the Action Fund has convened consultants in architecture, community engagement, interpretation, strategic planning and fundraising to develop a stewardship plan for Brown Chapel AME. The Action Fund is working with church leadership to complete strategic, fundraising, management and interpretation plans to secure the site’s future. The next phase will focus on the church’s Fellowship Hall and Sunday School wing and will include new interpretive elements to support the church’s tourism program.
Project partners include the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund; the National Trust for Historic Preservation; Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church; the National Park Service; Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell of Alabama’s 7th Congressional District; the Authentic Brown Chapel Church Foundation Inc.; the Historic Brown Chapel AME Church Preservation Society Inc.; Bailey Edward Architecture; Richard B. Hudgens Architect; Steward Construction; CJAM Consulting; Rhodes Heritage Group; NAACP Legal Defense Fund; the Alabama African-American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium; the Educational Foundation of America; Kataly Foundation; and Advance Collaborative.
Events
To attend events at Brown Chapel AME Church, participants must RSVP in advance.
Brown Chapel AME Opening Celebration
- Location: Brown Chapel AME Church
- Date: Friday, March 6:10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
- About: An introduction to the restoration of Brown Chapel AME’s historic sanctuary and space for semi-guided tours. A light breakfast reception will follow.
- Speakers:
- Brown Chapel AME Church Pastor Leodis Strong and members of the congregation
- Ms. Joyce O’Neal, Steward Pro-Tem, Historic Brown Chapel AME Church
- Tiffany Tolbert, Sr. Director of Preservation at the AACHAF
- Al Perry, Historic Brown Chapel AME Church Preservation Society Inc.
Bloody Sunday Commemoration Service
- Location: Brown Chapel AME Church
- Date: Sunday, March 8 at 8:30 a.m.
- About: A commemorative worship service honoring the 61st anniversary of Bloody Sunday.
- Speakers:
- Brown Chapel AME Church Pastor Leodis Strong
- Bishop Julius Harrison McAllister, Jr., AME Church 9th Episcopal District
- Brent Leggs, Executive Director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund National Trust for Historic Preservation
- Rep. Terri A. Sewell, Congresswoman for Alabama’s 7th District
- Ryan P. Haygood, Esq., President & CEO, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
- Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel, Legal Defense Fund
To learn more about The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, visit savingplaces.org/actionfund. To learn more about the National Trust for Historic Preservation, visit savingplaces.org.
