The House by the Side of the Road: The Selma Civil Rights Movement
Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson
Whenever the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., visited Selma, Alabama, he often dropped by the home of Dr. Sullivan and Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson. Sullivan Jackson and his wife, Richie Jean, provided succor to the civil rights movement and opened their home to King, where he could strategize with other civil rights leaders such as Andrew Young, John Lewis, and Ralph David Abernathy. In The House by the Side of the Road: The Selma Civil Rights Movement, Richie Jean recalls the meetings that occurred in the months leading up to Bloody Sunday, the fateful March 7, 1965, Selma-to-Montgomery march for voting rights in which state troopers attacked the marchers. In addition to being a secret meeting place, the Jackson home occasionally served as a respite for MLK, whenever the weary civil rights leader needed rest, sleep, or to get away from it all. (University of Alabama Press)