Florence library program to feature Alabama Tourism Director Lee Sentell

FLORENCE-Alabama State Tourism Director Lee Sentell will present a program and sign copies of his book, “The Official United States Civil Rights Trail: What Happened Here Changed the World,” at 6 p.m., Monday, Nov. 15, at the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library.

Sentell is among the nation’s longest serving state tourism directors, having led Alabama’s agency for nearly two decades. He launched the Alabama Civil Rights Trail, the first in the country, in 2004. After tasking a major university to inventory civil rights landmarks open to the public, he founded the U.S. Civil Rights Trail (civilrightstrail.com) with his fellow Southern state tourism directors. The trail features more than 120 landmarks in 15 states and Washington, D.C.His book chronicles two decades of the civil rights movement and important places during that time. It takes us on a journey through school integration, protest marches, freedom rides and sit-ins. The book also explores historic sites from Topeka, Kansas, to Memphis, Tennessee, from Atlanta, Georgia, to Selma and Birmingham, Alabama, all the way to Washington, D.C., and highlights how the places on the trail can build hope for the future.

The library event will take place in the fiction colonnade on the first floor. It is free and open to the public.