The year is 1965. You're surrounded by your fellow peaceful marchers dressed in their Sunday best, preparing to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma to Montgomery to draw attention to the fact that African-Americans are no longer going to sit back and be second-class citizens. Adrenaline is pumping through your veins as you take each step, and when you finally reach the bridge, instead of being greeted with open arms, you are met with violence and brutality.
This scene, and others similar to it, are brought to life for 10 students by history professor Susan Ouellette and St. Michael’s archivist Liz Scott. Ouellette and Scott are co-teaching a history class about the impact that the Edmundites have had on the push for equal rights for African-Americans in the United States, Scott says.
Reliving History
Ouellette and Scott, along with their 10 students, traveled to Selma, Ala. on a $4000 grant from the Edmundite's Trust Fund for five days during President’s Day break as an extension of their class “Edmundites in the Era of Civil Rights,” according to a St. Michael’s College press release.
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Father John Crowley, SSE and Martin Luther King Jr. in 1965 in Selma, Ala. |
They brought their syllabus to life as students visited museums, historical landmarks and met important figures in Edmundite history, Scott says. Each member of the class was given a box of historical documents concerning the Edmundites upon return.
Going through the boxes makes the history more tangible for students since they are interacting with first-hand sources directly, Scott says.
“We are each going through a box full of history and we have the job of organizing these memos and correspondences from so long ago,” junior Julie Kozikowski says. “And we also have the option and the pleasure to sit down and read them all if we want.”
“[Susan Ouellette] and I organized the trip so students could see and experience the things we were teaching in the class,” Scott says.
The group spent time at eight museums and landmarks, including the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Archives, Dexter Avenue Church and Parsonage, and the Rosa Parks Library and Museum, Ouellette says.
In one museum, Kozikowski met an African-American man who was living in Selma during the civil rights era.
“Speaking with him just made the whole experience that more real,” she says. “At that point, there was no denying that [civil rights] really happened.”
Scott says: “We really wanted students to have a better understanding of the history of the society that founded our school. There is so much history there and so few people know about it.”
In 1937, two Edmundite priests ventured to Selma to support the African-American community, as well as attempt to offer a helping hand in the fight for civil rights, says Fr. Mike Cronogue, superior general of the Society of St. Edmund (SSE).
Over the years, Edmundites established St. Elizabeth’s School kindergarten through eighth grade, Holy Infant Inn for the elderly and chronically ill, and the Don Bosco Boys Club, among other ventures. They also established Good Samaritan Hospital, which was the only hospital in Selma that offered services to African-Americans, Cronogue, says.
“The Edmundites were some of the only white folks who were willing to help the African-Americans down there,” he says.
Deeply rooted in civil rights
For junior Bridget Morse, learning how deeply rooted the Edmundites were in civil rights history was shocking, she says.
“I never realized how much they had done down there,” she says.
Scott says: “At the peak of the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. made his way to Selma and befriended Fr. Ouellete and the Edmundite community."
In February 1965, a young African-American boy was shot in the nearby town of Marion. Since the hospital in Marion didn’t have the supplies needed to help the boy, he was transported to Edmundite's Good Samaritan Hospital, where he passed away eight days later, she says.
“It was the death of the ‘Marion Boy’ that charged King to organize a peaceful march from Selma to Montgomery,” she says.
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The professors and students of the history class "Edmundites in the Era of Civil Rights" in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. (Photo courtesy of Professor Susan Ouellette) |
The group of marchers attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge, on March 7, 1965. However, the peaceful march resulted in hostility and violence. The amount of brutality gave the day the nickname "Bloody Sunday" Scott says.
Cronogue says, the Edmundites were there to offer medical treatment to all those who were injured in the march. The Good Samaritan Hospital was swamped with victims from the day
Morse says: “Walking across that bridge in itself was powerful because that is where so many people died."
Kozikowski echoes Morse’s sentiments mentioning how fascinating it was to be following in the footsteps of so many courageous people.
Bringing the history to St. Michael’s
“We hope we can do more trips like this,” Scott says. “I think it’s important to not only teach students, but for them to experience it as well.”
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Fr. Maurice Ouellete, SSE and students of St. Elizabeth's School in Selma, Ala. in the 1960s. (Photo courtesy of Society of St. Edmund) |
Scott has earned her own $5,000 grant from the National Endowment of Humanities to organize and archive the Edmundite’s history in the civil rights era.
“The point of this trip wasn’t for me to carry out my own work, but it did shed some light on the subject and allowed me to grab some materials,” Scott says, surrounded by papers, overflowing boxes and old photographs in her office, deep in the archives of Durick Library.
Scott has created two Web sites, which clearly outline the involvement of the Edmundites in civil rights, as well as the connections with the Sisters of St. Joseph, nicknamed the Sisters of Selma.
“It’s unbelievable some of the stuff they did down there,” she says. “They really took matters into their own hands, even if it was dangerous.”
Ouellette says: “I will certainly offer this seminar again. And who knows what else will develop out of the experience? I am continually impressed with the Edmundites work for peace and justice that has stretched over a whole lot of geography as well as time.”