Historical Record
1929 – 2025 · Selma, Alabama
Alice Martin is born in Selma, Dallas County, Alabama. She is a native daughter of the city that will become the epicenter of the American civil rights movement.
Alice Martin marries Lonzy West, Sr. She will raise eleven children in the George Washington Carver Homes in east Selma.
The George Washington Carver Homes public housing complex is constructed in east Selma with federal funds, adjacent to Brown Chapel AME Church. The West family makes their home here.
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus. The Montgomery Bus Boycott begins, launching the modern civil rights movement and bringing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to national prominence.
SNCC begins organizing in Selma, focusing on voter registration. Dallas County has approximately 15,000 Black voting-age adults but fewer than 335 registered voters.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the SCLC formally join the Selma voting rights campaign. Mass meetings at Brown Chapel AME Church, steps from the West family home, draw hundreds of participants.
State trooper James Bonard Fowler shoots Jimmie Lee Jackson during a night march in Marion, Alabama. Jackson dies on February 26. His death galvanizes the movement and leads to the call for a march from Selma to Montgomery.
Six hundred marchers, led by John Lewis and Hosea Williams, attempt to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge. State troopers attack them with clubs and tear gas. Alice West, living next to Brown Chapel, witnesses the National Guard occupation of her neighborhood. The images shock the nation.
Dr. King leads a second march to the bridge, then turns around to avoid a confrontation. The same day, Rev. James Reeb is beaten by white supremacists near the Silver Moon Cafe — a location Alice West had warned civil rights workers to avoid.
President Lyndon B. Johnson addresses a joint session of Congress, invoking the movement's anthem: 'We Shall Overcome.' Alice West and civil rights workers gathered in her living room to watch the address.
The successful Selma-to-Montgomery March proceeds under federal protection. Alice West participates. On March 25, Viola Gregg Liuzzo is shot and killed by Klan members while shuttling marchers. Alice West later cited Liuzzo's death as one of the defining moments of the campaign.
Jonathan Daniels, a 26-year-old Episcopal seminary student from Keene, New Hampshire, comes to Selma after Bloody Sunday. He and colleague Judith Upham are taken in by the West family. He tutors the West children, helps families apply for government assistance, and becomes, in Alice's words, 'a part of my family.'
Alice West registers to vote in Dallas County, Alabama — a right that had been denied to Black Alabamians for generations. She then devotes herself to helping others register.
President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965, outlawing discriminatory voting practices that had disenfranchised Black Americans for a century. The Act is the direct result of the Selma campaign.
Jonathan Daniels is shot and killed in Hayneville, Alabama, while shielding 17-year-old Ruby Sales from a shotgun blast. His death devastates the West family. Alice West later said: 'His death took a toll on my family as well as all the Black people in Selma, AL.'
Alice West continues her voter registration work over the following decades, personally assisting more than 300 people in registering to vote in Dallas County, Alabama.
Alice West and her family co-found a child development center for underprivileged children in Selma. The center is later renamed the Jonathan Daniels Daycare Center in honor of the young man who became part of their family.
Rachel West Nelson, Alice's daughter, is interviewed for the 'Eyes on the Prize' oral history project at Washington University in St. Louis. Her testimony documents the West family's role in the movement and provides a primary source record of Alice West's contributions.
The Disney television film Selma, Lord, Selma is released, based on the memoir co-written by Rachel West Nelson and Sheyann Webb. The film depicts life in the George Washington Carver Homes during the civil rights movement and the West family's role in it.
Alice West participates in the 50th anniversary commemoration of Bloody Sunday. She is recognized as a living witness to the movement. The Episcopal Church holds a pilgrimage to Selma to honor Jonathan Daniels, and Alice West is among those who remember him.
At age 91, Alice West gives an interview to the Black Belt News Network, reflecting on the civil rights battles of yesterday and today. She remains clear-eyed about the ongoing struggle for racial justice.
Alice Martin West dies peacefully at her home in Selma, Alabama, on the eve of the annual Bloody Sunday bridge crossing commemoration. She is 93 years old. Selma mourns the loss of one of its most beloved and courageous citizens.
A Celebration of Life service is held at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Selma, Alabama. Family, friends, civil rights veterans, and community members gather to honor Alice Martin West.
The Alice Martin West 'Saints in Action' Scholarship is awarded for the first time to a graduating senior at Selma High School, continuing her legacy of investment in the next generation.