Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church (Selma, Alabama)
Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church is a church at 410 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Selma, Alabama, United States. This church was a starting point for the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965 and, as the meeting place and offices of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) during the Selma Movement, played a major role in the events that led to the adoption of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The nation's reaction to Selma's "Bloody Sunday" march is widely credited with making the passage of the Voting Rights Act politically viable in the United States Congress.
Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church | |
U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
U.S. National Historic Landmark | |
Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, taken in 2000. | |
| Location | 410 Martin Luther King, Jr., Street, Selma, Alabama |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 32°24′44.65″N 87°0′58.19″W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1908 |
| Architect | A. J. Farley |
| Architectural style | Romanesque Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 82002009 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | February 4, 1982 |
| Designated NHL | December 12, 1997 |
| Designated ARLH | June 16, 1976 |
It was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on June 16, 1976 and later declared a National Historic Landmark on February 4, 1982.
The structure sustained significant damage from termites and mold while it was unoccupied during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was included on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's annual list of America's 11 Most Endangered Places in 2022.