ABSTRACT

Alabama sold its Old South heritage by commemorating the Confederacy and celebrating the wealth produced by slave labor through pilgrimages. Yet in the 1980s, the state cut a new course by marketing African-American heritage and the sites of civil rights conflicts. Joining other groups in memorializing the movement, Alabama successfully commodified its controversial past as heritage tourism. Ironically, Governor George Wallace initiated the marketing strategy to alter Alabama's negative image. Selma captured the idea with its "From Civil War to Civil Rights" advertising campaign. The juxtaposition of apparently incongruous events points not only to the mixed motivations behind heritage tourism but also to the potential that exists as the public engages and confronts contested pasts. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: <getinfo@haworthpressinc.com> Website: < https://www.HaworthPress.com" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://www.HaworthPress.com > © 2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]