A monument was unveiled Thursday in Detroit to commemorate a white mother who was slain in Alabama while shuttling demonstrators after the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march, along with the Black friend who helped raise her children following her death.
A ceremony was held at Viola Liuzzo Park on the city's northwest side for Liuzzo and Sarah Evans.
“SISTERS IN LIFE — SISTERS IN STRUGGLE” is written across the top of the 7-foot laser-etched granite monument that features photo images of Liuzzo and Evans.
Liuzzo was a 39-year-old nursing student at Wayne State University in Detroit when she drove alone to Alabama to help the civil rights movement.
She was struck in the head March 25, 1965, by shots fired from a passing car. Her Black passenger, 19-year-old Leroy Moton, was wounded.
Three Ku Klux Klan members were convicted in Liuzzo’s death.
