Selma, city (1990 pop. 23,755), seat of Dallas co., S central Ala., on the Alabama River, in a fertile farm area; inc. 1820. Machinery, paper products, construction materials, transportation equipment, furniture, textiles, apparel, dairy products, and lumber are among its manufactures. A Confederate arsenal and supply point, Selma was ravaged in 1865; however, a number of antebellum houses remain—notably Sturdivant Hall (1853). Sen. William Rufus King, who named the town, lived and is buried there. A historical museum and a zoo are in Selma, and it is the seat of Selma Univ. and Concordia College. Nearby is the site of Cahaba, capital of Alabama from 1819 to 1826. In 1965, Selma was the center of a black voter registration drive led by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Lagerlöf, Selma, 1858-1940, Swedish novelist. Her native Värmland is the background for many of her excellent stories, which deal with peasant life. Novels include The Story of Gösta Berling (1891, tr. 1898), a romantic tale of a renegade priest, lyrical in style; Jerusalem (1901, tr. 1901-2); and a trilogy (1925-28) which was published in English as The Ring of the Lowenskolds (1931). Several of her works, often based on legends and sagas, served as the basis for early Swedish films. The short stories of The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (1906, tr. 1907) are classics of children's literature. She received the 1909 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first woman to be thus honored.