The nation's reaction to Selma's "Bloody Sunday" march is widely credited with making the passage of the Voting Rights Act politically viable in the United States Congress.

[2][1] The structure sustained significant damage from termites and mold while it was unoccupied during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was included on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's annual list of America's 11 Most Endangered Places in 2022.

[5][6] The Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church is located northeast of downtown Selma, on the east side of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard between St. Johns Street and Clark Avenue.

Its facade has its entries recessed behind an arcade of three rounded arches, and is flanked by a pair of square towers topped by octagonal lanterns and cupolas.

It is best known today for its role as the site of organizational meetings related to several major events in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.