Selma to Montgomery marches

Selma to Montgomery marches
Abernathy Family · Public domain · source
Name	Selma to Montgomery marches
Caption	Marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in March 1965.
Date	March 7–25, 1965
Place	Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama
Cause	Voting rights discrimination against African Americans
Result	Voting Rights Act of 1965
Side1	Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Dallas County Voters League
Side2	Alabama Highway Patrol, Dallas County Sheriff's Department, White Citizens' Council
Leadfigures1	Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, Hosea Williams, Amelia Boynton Robinson
Leadfigures2	George Wallace, Jim Clark, John Cloud

Selma to Montgomery marches. The Selma to Montgomery marches were three protest marches held in March 1965 along the 54-mile highway from Selma, Alabama to the state capital of Montgomery, Alabama. Organized by civil rights organizations including the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the marches were a pivotal campaign for African American voting rights in the United States. The violent confrontations between peaceful demonstrators and law enforcement, broadcast nationally, galvanized public opinion and directly pressured the federal government to pass the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Background and context

The marches were the culmination of years of organizing in Dallas County, Alabama, where systematic disfranchisement had reduced Black voter registration to just two percent. The Dallas County Voters League (DCVL), led by figures like Amelia Boynton Robinson and Frederick D. Reese, had long fought this injustice. In early 1965, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), under Martin Luther King Jr., and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) joined local efforts, making Selma the focus of a major voting rights campaign. They faced vehement opposition from Alabama Governor George Wallace and Dallas County Sheriff Jim Clark, whose forces used intimidation and arrests to suppress Black citizens attempting to register. The death of Jimmie Lee Jackson, a young Black man shot by an Alabama state trooper during a peaceful march in nearby Marion, Alabama, on February 26, 1965, provided the immediate catalyst for a protest march to the state capital.

First attempt: "Bloody Sunday"

The first march began on March 7, 1965, later known as "Bloody Sunday." Led by SNCC chairman John Lewis and SCLC organizer Hosea Williams, about 600 marchers walked from Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma eastward toward the Edmund Pettus Bridge. At the bridge's crest, they were met by a phalanx of state troopers and sheriff's deputies under the command of Major John Cloud. The officers ordered the marchers to disperse and, when they knelt to pray, attacked with billy clubs, tear gas, and mounted troopers who charged into the crowd. The brutal assault, which left Lewis with a fractured skull and sent dozens to the hospital, was captured by television cameras and newspaper photographers, including Spider Martin. Images of the violence shocked the nation and appeared on the front pages of newspapers like The New York Times.

Second attempt: "Turnaround Tuesday"

In response to the national outcry, Martin Luther King Jr. called for a second march two days later, on March 9. A federal district judge, Frank Minis Johnson, had issued a temporary restraining order against the march, urging patience until a full hearing could be held. King led about 2,500 protesters to the Edmund Pettus Bridge again, where they faced a barricade of troopers. Following a pre-arranged plan to avoid violating the court order and provoking another violent confrontation, King led the marchers in prayer and then turned them back to Selma. This day became known as "Turnaround Tuesday." That night, a group of white segregationists attacked three white Unitarian Universalist ministers who had come to support the marchers; one, the Reverend James Reeb, died from his injuries two days later, further intensifying national sympathy for the cause.

Successful march and arrival in Montgomery

Following the death of James Reeb, President Lyndon B. Johnson addressed a joint session of Congress on March 15, delivering his famous "We Shall Overcome" speech in support of voting rights legislation. Subsequently, Judge Frank Minis Johnson ruled in favor of the marchers, issuing an injunction that protected their right to march under the First Amendment. The third and final march began on March 21, under the protection of the Alabama National Guard (federalized National Guard (SC|United States Army forces|United States Army|United States|United States Army National Guard (SCLC) and the United States Army|United States Army National Guard the United States Army the United States Army|United States Army the United States Army the United States Army the United States Army|United States Army|United States Army|United States Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army|United States|United States Army the Army the Army the Army|United States|United States Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army|United States|United States Army|United States Army|United States Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the United States Army the Army the Army|United States Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the Army the the the Army the the Army the the Army the Army the the the Army the Army the Army the the Army United States Army the the Army the the Army the Army the Army the the Army the the Army the the the Army Army the Army United States Army the Army the United States Army the Army the United States Army United States