The American South was extremely problematic on anything concerning race, even in the 20th century. When the Dallas County Voters League, the principal local civil rights organization, requested help from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and its leader, Martin Luther King, Jr., Selma’s recently elected mayor, Joseph Smitherman, sought to prevent local law-enforcement officers from employing violence, fearing that bad publicity would work against his attempt to lure new industry to Selma. While U.S. District Court Judge Frank Johnson, Jr., agreed to hear the petition, he also issued a restraining order forbidding any further demonstrations in the interim. On February 4, a federal judge had ordered the Selma registrar's office to process a minimum of a hundred voter applications a day. Selma In March 1965, more than 200,000 Catholic women were living and working in over 400 religious orders in the United States providing an invisible, and often taken for granted, workforce that had created and or staffed thousands of schools, hundreds of hospitals and social service agencies across the country. He then chose to allow it to take place as originally planned so as not to discourage those who had already arrived on Sunday. Declaration of Independence? Not only was the registration office open just two days per month, but cumbersome four-page forms and arbitrarily applied literacy tests were used to deter and prevent African Americans from obtaining the vote. By early February 1965, with the SCLC’s organizing efforts in full swing, police violence had escalated and at least 2,000 demonstrators had been jailed in Dallas county. State officials had received orders to target Vivian, and a line of Alabama state troopers waited for the marchers at the Perry County courthouse. That didn’t stop their accomplishment. On February 18, 1965, C. T. Vivian led a march to the courthouse in Marion, the county seat of neighboring Perry County, to protest the arrest of James Orange. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Before departing Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Selma on Sunday morning, marchers were reminded of their nonviolent tactics—that if they were halted, they should sit and pray until tear gassed or arrested. It provided some of the most recognized imagery of the civil rights movement and sparked several infamous crimes. Origins of the Selma to Montgomery Marches. Television cameras recorded the brutal assault and brought it into millions of American homes. March 27. Arm in arm, Martin Luther King, Jr., and his wife, Coretta Scott King, leading the voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, March 1965. The marchers weren’t granted the right to vote on the final day of the Selma March. A chronicle of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965. The thirty thousand people who at one point or another took part in this week’s march from the Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Selma… Civil rights marchers march during the third and final march from Selma to Montgomery. These marches were the Selma to Montgomery marches, and nonviolent activists organized them to shed light on all of the racial injustices in American society. The focus of those efforts was the county seat, Selma, where only about 1 or 2 percent of eligible Black voters were registered. Lyndon B. Johnson introduced voting rights legislation in an address to a joint session of Congress. In January and February King pointed to the situation in Selma when he sought to persuade Pres. A powerful and recently rediscovered film made during the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march for voting rights. Omissions? In 1963 the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) endeavoured to register African American voters in Dallas county in central Alabama. King called on Americans of conscience to go to Selma to join the protest and restart the march. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). On "Bloody Sunday," March 7, 1965, some 600 civil rights marchers headed east out of Selma on U.S. Route 80. The large protest shed light on the unfair voting conditions that many African Americans faced. Officials had turned off all of the nearby street lights, and state troopers rushed at the protesters, attacking them. Push for Voting Rights Sparked Selma Protests. Following the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made discrimination illegal based on race, the Selma to Montgomery march was organized to help register black voters in the South and to protest against racially motivated violence. nps. We decided to march on March 7th, '65, but when I look back I'm really not sure on that particular day when a group of us about six hundred of us decided to march, whether we were literally prepared to march from Selma to Montgomery that day. On March 7, 1965 over 500 marchers began a 54-mile journey out of Selma on U.S. Highway 80 en route to Montgomery. When Martin Luther King, Jr. led the 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, the 2,000 marchers and their supporters, and the 50,000 who … Protesters Jimmie Lee Jacksonand his mother fled the scene to hide in a nearby café. At the east end of the bridge, the demonstrators encountered a force of sheriff’s deputies, deputized “possemen” (some on horseback), and dozens of state troopers. Selma March, also called Selma to Montgomery March, political march from Selma, Alabama, to the state’s capital, Montgomery, that occurred March 21–25, 1965. Jeff Wallenfeldt, manager of Geography and History, has worked as an editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica since 1992. 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272, Black History Records listed by Record Group Clusters, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), From Selma to Montgomery - The Selma Voting Rights Movement, Analyzing a Letter to Congress about Bloody Sunday, How to File a FOIA Request for Archival Records. Thousands answered his call. The march was led by SNCC Chairman John Lewis and the Reverend Hosea Williams of SCLC. In March 1965, thousands of people held a series of marches in the U.S. state of Alabama in an effort to get that right back. On February 18, 1965, in Marion, the county seat of Perry county, near Selma, a state trooper shot Jimmie Lee Jackson, a young African American man, during a nighttime demonstration. These marches were organized to protest the blocking of Black Americans' right to vote by the systematic racist structure of the Jim Crow South. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Selma March that led directly to passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, “We Shall Overcome”: LBJ and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, “How Long, Not Long”: Selma to Montgomery, https://www.britannica.com/event/Selma-March, National Geographic Society - The Selma-to-Montgomery Marches, Public Broadcasting Service - George Wallace - Selma March, Selma March - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Selma March - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, civil rights movement: “We march with Selma!”. In unilaterally scheduling the action for Sunday, March 7, King alienated a number of SNCC leaders, who resented the lack of a joint decision. Significantly, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) interrupted its telecast of Judgment at Nuremburg (1961), a film about the prosecuting of Nazi war criminals, to show the events in Selma, which became known as “Bloody Sunday.” Over the next 48 hours, demonstrations were held in some 80 U.S. cities in support of the marchers. Please select which sections you would like to print: While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. In the tear-gas-shrouded melee that followed, marchers were spat upon, overrun by horses, and attacked with billy clubs and bullwhips. In March 1965, the Selma to Montgomery march became a watershed moment for the civil rights movement of the 1960s. From the Constitution to the chambers on Capitol Hill, learn more about American history and politics by taking this quiz. Edmund Pettus Bridge, site of Bloody Sunday (March 7, 1965), Selma, Alabama, 2006. March 9, 1965 - Unitarian Universalist minister James Reeb, in Selma to join marchers, is attacked … Williams asked to speak with the officer who had given the command. The 1965 Selma to Montgomery March was the climactic event of the Selma voting rights demonstrations. Their march from Selma to Montgomery, the capital, was a success, leading to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. When King’s father persuaded him to preach at Ebenezer Baptist Church (his home church) in Atlanta on Sunday, King initially rescheduled the march for Monday, March 8. The pavement along the 50 miles of the U.S. 80 from Selma is just as hard on the feet, ... the march had been transformed from a carnival for 3,000 to a crusade for 300. The 1960s was a period of explosive crisis within the United States, and the Selma march cannot be viewed in isolation from this. The marchers were told that they had two minutes to disperse. On March 7, 1965, Hosea Williams led the Demonstrators carrying a banner reading “We march with Selma!” in the Harlem section of New York City, March 1965. It is also called the Selma to Montgomery March. As told in my book Taming the Storm: The Life and Times of Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr. and the South’s Fight Over Civil Rights, here’s the story of what happened. Ultimately, they allowed their members to participate in the march as individuals, led by SNCC chairman John Lewis. In 1965, three protest marches were held in the United States to fight for voting rights for black people. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Reluctant to violate the restraining order, however, he turned the procession around, after leading it in prayer, when state troopers ordered it to halt. Led by Hosea Williams, one of King’s SCLC lieutenants, and Lewis, some 600 demonstrators walked, two by two, the six blocks to the Edmund Pettus Bridge that crossed the Alabama River and led out of Selma. Led by Martin Luther King, Jr. , the march was the culminating event of several tumultuous weeks during which demonstrators twice attempted to march but were stopped, once violently, by local police. Corrections? ET, March 7, 2021. Who drafted the U.S. Made a decision to march. The plan entailed walking along the highway from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery, 50 miles away. The Selma March was a political march from Selma, Alabama, to the state’s capital, Montgomery. This infographic provides maps and a timeline of the Selma March, which occurred March 21–25, 1965, and was a landmark event of the American civil rights movement. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Viola Fauver Liuzzo (née Gregg; April 11, 1925 – March 25, 1965) was an American housewife and civil rights activist. Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights March sign commemorating the famous civil rights march led by Martin Luther King, Jr. over 50 years ago. Selma March. One of them, Massachusetts Unitarian minister James J. Reeb, died of his wounds. Updates? Together, these events became a landmark in the American civil rights movement and directly led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. More than 50 marchers, including Lewis, were hospitalized. The Selma March was a civil rights demonstration that took place in Alabama in March 1965. Demonstrators were stopped twice, once with violence, before they were allowed to complete the march. Image credit: James R. Martin / Shutterstock.com. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. With David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Wilkinson. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) led voter registration drives in the small town of Selma, Alabama, … Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, Alabama, 1946. Who wrote the American national anthem? Alabama State Tr… They were granted the right to vote later on. Civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. , led the march, which took place March 21–25, 1965. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/selma-to-montgomery-march-begins Effects of the March The march on Selma was a major historical event in the battle for civil rights. UPDATED: 8:15 a.m. Directed by Ava DuVernay. The march proceeded without any interruptions until the protesters crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The Selma Marches were a series of three marches that took place in 1965 between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama. The officer responded that there was nothing to talk about, and moments later he ordered the state troopers to advance. In late 1964, as SNCC intensified its registration campaign in response to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, local law enforcement—led by the county’s militant segregationist sheriff, Jim Clark (who wore a button that read “Never!”)—resisted with increasing violence (including the use of electric cattle prods against demonstrators). The march started out with 600 African Americans in Selma but by the time they reached Montgomery, there were 30,000 marchers. Before the march, civil rights groups had been … Lyndon B. Johnson to push for a voting rights act. After Jackson died of his wounds just over a week later in Selma, leaders called for a march to the state capital, Montgomery, to bring attention to the injustice of Jackson’s death, the ongoing police violence, and the sweeping violations of African Americans’ civil rights. The SCLC decided to once again organize a march for the right to vote. Some people opposed the march and some people supported it. On March 7, approximately 600 non-violent protestors, the vast majority being African-American, departed from Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma with the intent on marching 54-miles to Montgomery, as a memorial to Jimmy Lee Jackson and to protest for voter's rights. The Selma-to-Montgomery March for voting rights ended three weeks--and three events--that represented the political and emotional peak of the modern civil rights movement. The final march included 25,000 people in a more than 50-mile (80-kilometer) procession from Selma to Montgomery, the state capital. T he historic “Selma to Montgomery marches,” with the first of the three protest marches known as “Bloody Sunday,” took place 56 years ago today and highlighted a turbulent time of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. March 25, 1965 - During the Selma-to-Montgomery march, about 25,000 demonstrators join the marchers when they reach Montgomery for a final rally at … Library of Congress. On March 6, George C. Wallace, Alabama’s segregationist governor, forbade the march and ordered state troopers to “take whatever means necessary” to prevent it. Clark, however, failed to heed Smitherman’s directive. Led by Martin Luther King, Jr., the march was the culminating event of several tumultuous weeks during which demonstrators twice attempted to march but were stopped, once violently, by local police. As many as 25,000 people participated in the roughly 50-mile (80-km) march. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. His intention was to join the march later. Selma March Facts - 3: The First March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, took place on March 7, 1965 and was organized by John Lewis a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee , who had been one of the original 1961 Freedom Riders. USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration He hoped that court enforcement of the Civil Rights Act would bring about the necessary change, he doubted that there would be sufficient congressional support for a voting rights bill, and he was hesitant to further provoke white Southerners who were already up in arms over desegregation legislation. That was not the last dramatic event of “Turnaround Tuesday.” That night three white clergymen who had traveled to Selma to join the protest were assaulted. The book, published by Doubleday in 1993, received the Selma March, also called Selma to Montgomery March, political march from Selma, Alabama, to the state’s capital, Montgomery, that occurred March 21–25, 1965. Almost immediately registrars created new obstacles for black voters. Beginning with Martin Luther King’s selection of Selma, Alabama, as the site for his voting rights campaign and concluding with legal proceedings against a state trooper whose gunfire precipitated the now-famous march to Montgomery, “The Selma Campaign” is the definitive word on a remarkable series of events that culminated in what many consider the country’s single most … On March 9 King led more than 2,000 individuals on a march to the bridge. (James Barker) A young man carries American flags on his back during the march. On 25 March 1965, Martin Luther King led thousands of nonviolent demonstrators to the steps of the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, after a 5-day, 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama, where local African Americans, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) had been campaigning for voting rights. 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