Rep. John Lewis’s weekend memorial events were livestreamed within this story. The civil rights icon’s celebration of life will continue for the next four days.
SELMA, Ala. (WIAT) — The family of the late congressman John Lewis will host “Celebration of Life” events across the country this weekend, including in Alabama, his home state.
Several events celebrating Lewis’s life will be held Saturday in Troy and Selma:
- A Service Celebrating “The Boy from Troy” – Trojan Arena, Troy University from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. CT
- Congressman Lewis Lies in Repose – Trojan Arena, Troy University from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. CT
- Selma Salutes Congressman John Lewis – Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. CT
- Congressman Lewis Lies in Repose – Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. CT
A man places flower petals on the Edmund Pettus Bridge ahead of Rep. John Lewis’ casket crossing during a memorial service for Lewis, Sunday, July 26, 2020, in Selma, Ala. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) 
The casket of Rep. John Lewis moves over the Edmund Pettus Bridge by horse-drawn carriage during a memorial service for Lewis, Sunday, July 26, 2020, in Selma, Ala. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) 
The casket of Rep. John Lewis moves over the Edmund Pettus Bridge by horse drawn carriage during a memorial service for Lewis, Sunday, July 26, 2020, in Selma, Ala. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) 
SELMA, ALABAMA – JULY 26: An Alabama State Trooper salutes the horse drawn carriage carrying the body of civil rights icon, former US Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) on July 26, 2020 in Selma, Alabama. On the second of six days of ceremonies, Lewis’s funeral procession continues to follow the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail on its way to the State Capitol where he will lie in state. On March 7, 1965 Lewis and other civil rights leaders were attacked by Alabama State Police while marching across the bridge in support of voting rights for African Americans. The day would come to be known as “Bloody Sunday”. (Photo by Lynsey Weatherspoon/Getty Images) 
Mourners watch the casket of Rep. John Lewis move over the Edmund Pettus Bridge by horse drawn carriage during a memorial service for Lewis, Sunday, July 26, 2020, in Selma, Ala. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) 
Flowers are handed to mourners during a memorial service for Lewis, Sunday, July 26, 2020, in Selma, Ala. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) 
A U.S. Military honor guard moves the casket of Rep. John Lewis after the casket moved over the Edmund Pettus Bridge by horse drawn carriage during a memorial service for Lewis, Sunday, July 26, 2020, in Selma, Ala. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) 
The casket of Rep. John Lewis sits in a hearse during a memorial service for Lewis, Sunday, July 26, 2020, in Selma, Ala. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) 
Rev. Darryl Caldwell speaks as the casket of the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., lies in repose during a service celebrating “The Boy from Troy” at Troy University on Saturday, July 25, 2020, in Troy, Ala. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) 
Mourners walk past the casket of the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., during a service celebrating “The Boy from Troy” at Troy University on Saturday, July 25, 2020, in Troy, Ala. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) 
Fraternity members sing in front of the casket of the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., during a service celebrating “The Boy from Troy” at Troy University on Saturday, July 25, 2020, in Troy, Ala. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) 
Ethel Mae Tyner, sister, of the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., wipes her face during a service celebrating “The Boy from Troy” at Troy University on Saturday, July 25, 2020, in Troy, Ala. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) 
Fraternity members sing in front of the casket of the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., during a service celebrating “The Boy from Troy” at Troy University on Saturday, July 25, 2020, in Troy, Ala. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) 
Mourners walk past the casket during the service for the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., at Troy University on Saturday, July 25, 2020, in Troy, Ala. Lewis, who carried the struggle against racial discrimination from Southern battlegrounds of the 1960s to the halls of Congress, died Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) 
Bernice King talks to reporters inside Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, the church her father, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., once led, Sunday, July 26, 2020, in Montgomery, Ala. Bernice King is to speak at a memorial vigil for Rep, John Lewis. (AP Photo/Julie Bennett) 
People wait in line to view the body of Congressman John Lewis in the Alabama Capitol Sunday, July 26, 2020, in Montgomery, Ala. The congressman from Georgia and civil rights icon died July 17 at age 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. (AP Photo/Julie Bennett) 
People walk past historic photos as they wait in line to view the body of Congressman John Lewis in the Alabama Capitol Sunday, July 26, 2020, in Montgomery, Ala. The congressman from Georgia and civil rights icon died July 17 at age 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. (AP Photo/Julie Bennett)
Lewis’s celebration of life continues Sunday with multiple events in Montgomery and Selma:
- The Final Crossing – Edmund Pettus Bridge at 10 a.m. CT
- Receiving Ceremony – Front Entrance Hall, Alabama State Capitol at 2 p.m. CT
- Congressman Lewis Lies in State – Alabama State Capitol from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. CT
- City of Montgomery holds public vigil honoring Congressman John Lewis at 7 p.m. CT
Saturday’s and Sunday’s events are part of a six-day celebration of the civil rights icon. Rep. Lewis (D-Ga.) died last Friday at age 80 of pancreatic cancer—a battle he made public in late December. He was the last surviving member of the “Big Six” civil rights activists, led by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., who organized the 1963 March on Washington.
Saturday, Lewis’s body traveled back to his hometown of Troy, where he grew up on a farm during racial segregation in the South. Hopeful of attending the local, all-white Troy College, now Troy University, Lewis said he never received a response and instead attended the predominately Black American Baptist College in Nashville. Wanting to challenge school segregation, he then decided to write to Martin Luther King, Jr., about his struggle. This correspondence sparked Lewis’s involvement in the civil rights movement and eventual participation in the 1961 Freedom Rides.
During Lewis’s memorial service in Selma Saturday, Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) and Democratic U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) spoke highly of the late congressman and reminisced about the memories each of them share with him.
Lewis’s body returned to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma Sunday morning for his “final crossing.” This symbolic journey came 55 years after the civil rights activist, then 25, was badly beaten on the bridge by Alabama state troopers while leading a 600-strong march for voting rights.
He suffered a fractured skull in an attack that erupted during the peaceful demonstration. The televised incident on March 7, 1965, which became known as “Bloody Sunday,” served as a catalyst for a national outcry to end racial discrimination.
FILE – In this March 7, 1965 file photo, state troopers use clubs against participants of a civil rights voting march in Selma, Ala. At foreground right, John Lewis, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, is beaten by a state trooper. The day, which became known as “Bloody Sunday,” is widely credited for galvanizing the nation’s leaders and ultimately yielded passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. (AP Photo/File) 
In a 2014 tweet, Rep. John Lewis said this mugshot was taken at Parchman Penitentiary after his arrest in Jackson, Mississippi for “using ‘white’ restroom.”(Nexstar DC) 
FILE – In this March 1, 1965, photo, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. leads a procession behind the casket of Jimmie Lee Jackson during funeral rites at Marion, Ala. From left, John Lewis, the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, King and the Rev. Andrew Young. In 1965, Jackson was fatally shot at a protest in Marion. It was that killing that sent hundreds of people to Selma for a march at the Edmund Pettus Bridge two weeks later. (AP Photo/File) 
FILE – In this March 7, 1965, file photo march leader Hosea Williams, left, leaves the scene as state troopers break up the civil rights voter registration march in Selma, Ala., and put John Lewis, center, of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee on the ground on what is known as Bloody Sunday. President Barack Obama is marking the 45th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” by praising “these heroes” who marched into history, and says that despite all the progress since “that terrible day in Selma,” more still needs to be done. (AP Photo/File) 
FILE – In this March 7, 2015, file photo, singing “We Shall Overcome,” President Barack Obama, third from left, walks holding hands with Amelia Boynton, who was beaten during “Bloody Sunday,” as they and the first family and others including Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga, left of Obama, walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., for the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” a landmark event of the civil rights movement. Some residents in the landmark civil rights city of Selma, Ala., are among the critics of a bid to rename the historic bridge where voting rights marchers were beaten in 1965. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 six months later.
Other events will be hosted in Atlanta and Washington D.C. The events will also be livestreamed on multiple platforms. For more information, click here.
