Alice Martin West
Foot Soldier · Freedom House Keeper · Servant of God
A woman who opened her home to the movement, helped 300 people claim the right to vote, sheltered John Lewis, Jonathan Daniels, and Stokely Carmichael at her kitchen table — and never sought recognition for any of it.
"We made our home welcome
to all 'outside agitators.'"
Born and raised in Selma, Alabama, Alice Martin West was one of three children of Mr. and Mrs. Malachi Martin. In 1946, she married Lonzy West, Sr. She raised eleven children in the George Washington Carver Homes — the public housing complex that would become, in 1965, the beating heart of the Selma civil rights movement.
When Dr. King, the SCLC, and SNCC came to Selma, Alice and Lonzy opened their door. Their home became the Second Freedom House — a sanctuary where the architects of American democracy slept on their floors, ate at their table, and planned the marches that changed the nation.
"Lonzy West & Mrs. Alice M. West at last leg of Selma – Montgomery March" — 1965
Brown Chapel AME Church — movement headquarters, 1965
May 27, 1929 – March 3, 2023
The Second Freedom House
In the Carver Homes housing project on the edge of Brown Chapel AME Church, Alice and Lonzy West's apartment became the most important private residence in the American civil rights movement.
George Washington Carver Homes, Selma, AL
Alabama Historical Marker — Carver Homes
Edmund Pettus Bridge — Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965
Those Who Passed Through Alice West's Door
Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church
309 Lawrence St., Selma, Alabama — Alice's spiritual home for her entire life
A Devout Catholic
Who Lived Her Faith
Alice Martin West was a lifelong, devoted member of Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Selma — a parish founded and served by the Society of St. Edmund (the Edmundites), whose priests and sisters were among the most visible Catholic voices for civil rights in the American South.
It was through her Catholic faith that Alice came to know Jonathan Daniels — the Episcopal seminary student who came to Selma after watching the Bloody Sunday footage, moved in with her family, and was shot to death on August 20, 1965, shielding a teenager from a shotgun blast. Alice said of him: "He taught my family all about the wonders of God's love."
The Jonathan Daniels Daycare Center — which Alice co-founded and ran for decades — was her living monument to that faith made flesh.
I would like to tell you what a day like "Bloody Sunday" was, and how it affected me and my family. The mass meeting at Brown Chapel, the National Guard almost in my back yard behind Brown Church, and finally the peaceful march and climax ending in Mrs. Liuzzo's death.
Honors & Awards
Congressional Gold Medal
As a Selma Foot Soldier who participated in the 1965 Voting Rights Marches, Alice Martin West was among those honored by Public Law 114-5, signed March 7, 2015 — Congress's highest civilian honor.
Alabama State Preservation Award
Alice West received the Alabama State Preservation Award in recognition of her contributions to preserving the history and legacy of the civil rights movement in Selma.
Living History Exhibit
Alice West was honored with a permanent Living History Exhibit at the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute in Selma, Alabama — one of the nation's foremost civil rights museums.
Navigate Her Story
"We have come a long way. But maybe we can continue to move forward to make this a better world for all people."
— Alice Martin West