As a Times-Journal reporter, I’ve been granted numerous opportunities to explore vital aspects of history that Selma offers. Visiting the Jackson house and speaking with someone who was raised in it has been one of the most life changing experiences.

It won’t be too long before the general public also has a chance to view the inside of the Jackson House, a home that served as an informal headquarters where civil rights leaders mapped out the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965. I just hope people of all ages will take advantage touring it when the Jackson Foundation and Museum opens next year.

Before I moved to Selma, I was one of the many people who were not aware of the Selma home on 1416 Lapsley St.

I drove by it countless days without any knowledge of its value, until I was assigned to do a story about the home after it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in January.

Like Jawana Jackson, the daughter of homeowner Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson, I want the history of the home to go on forever. To make that possible more young people have to be aware of its value and willing to pass it along to those who come after them.

Reading about the house is one way to learn more, but taking it a step further to actually see the home may leave you with a more powerful impact that will make it nearly impossible not to share information about its significance past.

I personally saw the kitchen table where civil rights leaders outlined the plans for the Selma to Montgomery March, the phone Martin Luther King Jr. used to make calls concerning the march, the bed where King laid his head for multiple nights and more in just a brief, informal tour of the home.

Something as simple as seeing those small parts of history reminded me that equality didn’t come easy. It came with sacrifices and dedication that deserve to be remembered.

Not only does being inside the house bring you closer to its past, but hearing from one of its residents gives you a rare perspective on what it felt like to be in the home when history was being made.

Although Jawana was younger than five when civil rights leaders used her home as an information headquarters, that point in her life was very huge for her. One of the most interesting aspects of her recollection of the house is the danger her family faced offering their home to the movement.

“We were in the line of danger. There is no question about that, and my father and mother took that into consideration,” she said. “They felt that the dangers were second to the advantages and what the struggle really was about.”

When the museum has its grand opening next year, I can only hope it will attract countless eager participants. Touring the Jackson Home is an experience I’ll cherish forever, and I’m sure you will too.