Last updated: April 22, 2025
Place
Viola Liuzzo Memorial
NPS Photo, BrittanyAnn Robinson
Quick Facts
Location:
2093 US Highway 80, East, Lowndesboro, AL 36040
The Viola Liuzzo Memorial honors the life and legacy of a courageous White civil rights activist who sacrificed her life in the struggle for racial equality. Viola Liuzzo, a 39-year-old mother of five from Detroit, was deeply moved by the televised images of "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, where peaceful marchers were attacked by state troopers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Determined to make a difference, Liuzzo left her family behind and traveled to Alabama to join the voting rights campaign, believing deeply in the cause of justice and equality for African Americans.
On the night of March 25, 1965, after participating in the historic Selma to Montgomery march, Liuzzo was driving Leroy Moton, a young Black civil rights volunteer, back to Montgomery. They were en route to pick up more marchers when a car carrying four Klansmen from Birmingham's Eastview Klavern 13 began chasing them. Driving a green 1963 Oldsmobile, Liuzzo was pursued by the Klansmen's red-and-white Chevy Impala. As they approached, 21-year-old Collie Wilkins, an unemployed mechanic, opened fire into Liuzzo's car. She was struck and killed instantly, while Leroy Moton, though unharmed, was knocked unconscious by the following crash, which led the Klansmen to believe he was dead.
Unknown to the public, one of the Klansmen in the car was Gary Rowe, a paid FBI informant who had infiltrated the Klan. His presence in the vehicle sparked controversy after the murder. Rather than investigating the attack, the FBI launched a smear campaign to deflect attention from Rowe's involvement and discredit Liuzzo. They spread false claims about her character, suggesting that she was emotionally unstable, involved with drugs, and had abandoned her family for a reckless cause. These baseless accusations attempted to undermine public sympathy for Liuzzo and shift the focus away from the FBI's questionable tactics in the case.
Despite the FBI's efforts to tarnish her reputation, Viola Liuzzo remains a martyr of the Civil Rights Movement, remembered for her courage and dedication to justice. The memorial is a tribute to her bravery and a solemn reminder of the violence those who fought for equality faced. Leroy Moton, who survived the attack, would later recount the events of that fateful night, ensuring that Liuzzo's story is not forgotten.
On the night of March 25, 1965, after participating in the historic Selma to Montgomery march, Liuzzo was driving Leroy Moton, a young Black civil rights volunteer, back to Montgomery. They were en route to pick up more marchers when a car carrying four Klansmen from Birmingham's Eastview Klavern 13 began chasing them. Driving a green 1963 Oldsmobile, Liuzzo was pursued by the Klansmen's red-and-white Chevy Impala. As they approached, 21-year-old Collie Wilkins, an unemployed mechanic, opened fire into Liuzzo's car. She was struck and killed instantly, while Leroy Moton, though unharmed, was knocked unconscious by the following crash, which led the Klansmen to believe he was dead.
Unknown to the public, one of the Klansmen in the car was Gary Rowe, a paid FBI informant who had infiltrated the Klan. His presence in the vehicle sparked controversy after the murder. Rather than investigating the attack, the FBI launched a smear campaign to deflect attention from Rowe's involvement and discredit Liuzzo. They spread false claims about her character, suggesting that she was emotionally unstable, involved with drugs, and had abandoned her family for a reckless cause. These baseless accusations attempted to undermine public sympathy for Liuzzo and shift the focus away from the FBI's questionable tactics in the case.
Despite the FBI's efforts to tarnish her reputation, Viola Liuzzo remains a martyr of the Civil Rights Movement, remembered for her courage and dedication to justice. The memorial is a tribute to her bravery and a solemn reminder of the violence those who fought for equality faced. Leroy Moton, who survived the attack, would later recount the events of that fateful night, ensuring that Liuzzo's story is not forgotten.