Death of John Lewis Fuels Movement to Rename Edmund Pettus Bridge

The death of Representative John Lewis on Friday has renewed interest in a campaign to rename the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., the site of a turning point in the fight for civil rights.

Named after a former Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leader, the bridge became the focus of national attention on March 7, 1965, when Alabama state troopers beat demonstrators who were marching for Black voting rights in what became known as Bloody Sunday.

Mr. Lewis, who was then the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, helped lead the march and sustained a cracked skull after a state trooper beat him to the ground with a nightstick. Mr. Lewis returned to Selma every year to commemorate the anniversary of the march, whose destination was the state capital in Montgomery.

An online petition created last month to rename the Edmund Pettus Bridge after Mr. Lewis has garnered over 400,000 signatures, including that of the director Ava DuVernay, whose Oscar-nominated film “Selma” recreated the Bloody Sunday confrontation.