SELMA

city, seat (1865) of Dallas county, central Alabama, U.S., on the Alabama River. Settled in 1815 as Moore's Bluff or Landing, it was renamed at its incorporation (1820) from Ossian's poem The Song of Selma. A Confederate supply depot during the American Civil War, it was burned by Union troops after a battle on its outskirts (April 2, 1865). In 1965 it was the centre of a black voter-registration drive led by Martin Luther King, Jr. Local violence against civil-rights activists, culminating in the murder of James J. Reeb, a Boston clergyman, led to a massive, nonviolent protest march from Selma to Montgomery, the state capital. Located in a dairy, livestock, grain, soybean, and cotton region, Selma now supports diversified industries. The city is the seat of Selma University (1878). Pop. (1993 est.) 24,646.