White Hall in Lowndes County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)

You Gotta Move

— Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail —

Photographed By Mark Hilton, January 6, 2018

1. You Gotta Move Marker

Inscription. In December 1965, a city of tents appeared on this site. The temporary shelters were homes for evicted black sharecropper families. These farmers worked and lived their lives on white-owned farms in Lowndes County. But when they dared to register to vote, following passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, white landowners ran them from their homes and livelihood.

The Davis family was evicted after 25 years, the Glover family after 35 years, and the Lusane family after 60 years. Some 40 families were turned out. Some moved in with friends or relatives. Others left the county. And still others left the state. Those who had no place else to go came here to Tent City. Walk the path and learn more about these people and their struggle.

A Community Comes Together
After the wave of evictions hit, the Lowndes County Christian Movement for Human Rights (LCCMHR) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) scrambled to keep families together. LCCMHR purchased six-plus acres here and with the help of SNCC and local volunteers erected canvas tents, set up army cots, and installed stove heaters in the tents in time for the arrival of the first Tent City residents.

I registered in August and got asked to leave our house in October after we had been there seven years.
Tent

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City resident Mrs. Annie Belle "Sugar Mama" Scott (now Mrs. Brown), quoted in The New York Times, January 1, 1966

Erected 2015 by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights. A significant historical date for this entry is January 1, 1966.

Location. 32° 16.233′ N, 86° 43.632′ W. Marker is in White Hall, Alabama, in Lowndes County. Marker can be reached from U.S. 80 west of White Hall Road. Located within the National Park Service Lowndes Interpretive Center. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 7002 US-80, Hayneville AL 36040, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Day Two (within shouting distance of this marker); After the March—Tent City (within shouting distance of this marker); It Started in Selma (within shouting distance of this marker); Marchers, Supporters, Hecklers (within shouting distance of this marker); A Price Paid (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); No Isolated Incident (about 300 feet away); Holy Ground Battlefield (approx. 0.2 miles away); Mount Gillard Baptist Church (approx. 1.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in White Hall.

Regarding You Gotta Move. This National

You Gotta Move Marker at the Lowndes Interpretive Center. image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mark Hilton, January 6, 2018

2. You Gotta Move Marker at the Lowndes Interpretive Center.

Park Service site is dedicated to those who peacefully marched 54 miles from Selma to the state capitol of Montgomery in order to gain the right to vote. This significant contribution to the trail serves as a reservoir of information about the unfortunate, yet significant, events that occurred in Lowndes County during the march. The museum exhibits interpret various events, including the confrontation of seminarian Jonathan Daniels; the slaying of Viola Liuzzo, a white woman who assisted the marchers by transporting them to Selma; and the establishment of Tent City, made up of temporary dwellings filled with cots, heaters, food and water that benefited families dislodged by white landowners in Lowndes County.

The $10 million structure was made possible through collaborative efforts between the National Park Service, the Federal Highway Administration and the Alabama Department of Transportation. There are no entrance fees required to visit this center.

The National Park Service Lowndes Interpretive Center. image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mark Hilton, January 6, 2018

3. The National Park Service Lowndes Interpretive Center.

One of many trail signs marking the route of the march. image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mark Hilton, January 6, 2018

4. One of many trail signs marking the route of the march.

Credits. This page was last revised on November 9, 2021. It was originally submitted on January 7, 2018, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 530 times since then and 84 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on January 7, 2018, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.