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WASHINGTON President Obama flies to Selma on Saturday to mark the 50th anniversary of the historic civil-rights marches that transformed the nation and this time, hes bringing his daughters.

For them to be able to see this place where, at a crossroads in our history, the kind of America that we all believe in was championed and ultimately vindicated thats a powerful thing, Obama told a radio interviewer Friday.

Up to 100,000 visitors are expected at the commemoration, including Obamas wife, Michelle; former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura; and 95 members of Congress.

Its an annual pilgrimage, both for politicians who want to pay tribute to the events that helped spur passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and to those who participated in or were moved by the Bloody Sunday attack at the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

On March 7, 1965, Alabama state troopers and a mounted posse attacked protesters at the bridge, using clubs, bullwhips and tear gas to break up the march. Two days later, Martin Luther King Jr. led a second march but had to turn back.

Then, on March 21, 1965, after federal intervention and national horror at police tactics, a much larger procession made it across and continued to Montgomery.

For Obama, having his kids there makes the event more meaningful, he told radio host Tom Joyner.

This was just yesterday basically, Obama said. It wasnt way back in the past. This just happened. And the people who were there are still around.

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who sustained a fractured skull on Bloody Sunday 50 years ago and who helps organize the annual commemoration event, will be there.

When I go back, I remember, the bridge for me is almost a sacred place. Because thats where some of us gave a little blood and where some people almost died, Lewis told NBCs Meet the Press. But that bridge, what happened on that Sunday have changed America forever.

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Obama bringing daughters to Selma for anniversary march