Rep. Sewell celebrates passage of her legislation to rename the Marion Post Office in Perry Co. Alabama, after Civil Rights Legend Albert Turner, Sr.
Washington, D.C. —U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) celebrated the passage of her legislation to rename the Marion Post Office after the late civil rights leader Albert Turner, Sr. H.R. 7893 passed the Senate unanimously on December 19th. The bill previously passed the House of Representatives in the summer. It was signed into law by President Biden on January 4, 2025..
The bill was supported by every member of Alabama’s congressional delegation.
“Albert Turner Sr. was a civil rights legend whose enormous contributions to Perry County, the State of Alabama, and our nation should never be forgotten,” said Rep. Sewell. “I am thrilled that Congress has passed my bill to honor his legacy by officially renaming the Marion Post Office after him. I thank my colleagues of the Alabama Delegation for their help getting this important legislation across the finish line.”
“I and my family are deeply honored that the United States Congress saw fit to recognize my father and the significant contributions he made to the civil rights of Americans,” said Perry County Commissioner Albert Turner, Jr. “I personally want to thank the entire Alabama delegation, both Democratic and Republicans, who made this idea into law. More specifically, I want to thank the sponsor, my Congresswoman, Terri Sewell, for leading the charge of honoring my hero, my father, Albert Turner, Sr.”
Albert Turner, Sr. was born in Perry County, Alabama in 1936. He devoted his life to the Civil Rights Movement, fighting to ensure equal access to the ballot box for African Americans. Turner worked closely with prominent leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., served as the Alabama Field Secretary for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and founded the Perry County Civic League to organize protests and boycotts for the racial integration of public facilities and schools.
Turner also served as Manager of the Southwest Alabama Farmers Cooperative (SWAFCA), a ten county association of farmers in the Alabama Black Belt, to market cucumbers, okra and other vegetable products. Turner also worked to involve the cooperative in producing alcohol fuel from agricultural waste – which was a forward-looking plan to produce renewable fuel to combat climate change.
In 1985, Turner, his wife Evelyn and Spencer Hoage were indicted on over 200 counts of “voter fraud” by then U. S. Attorney Jeff Sessions, for their work to help people in Perry County to use the absentee ballot. A Federal jury acquitted the three of all charges at a trial that was designed to intimate Back voters but failed.
Turner passed away on April 13, 2000, at the age of 64.
Plans for an official ceremony for the post office re-naming are pending. H.R. 7893 will officially rename the Marion Post Office, located at 306 Pickens Street, as the “Albert Turner, Sr. Post Office Building.”
Bill text is available from Congresswoman Sewell’s office and website.