Selma Lesson Plans & Classroom Activities

The Role of LBJ in the Selma March and the Voting Rights Act

“At times, history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man’s unending search for freedom. So it was at Lexington and Concord. So it was a century ago in Appomattox. And so it was last week in Selma, Alabama.”
President Lyndon Baines Johnson
March 15, 1965

Introduction

As a U.S. President, LBJ played an important role in the Civil Rights Movement. To examine his role, research the documents below and answer the questions that follow.

Audiotape conversation between President Johnson and Dr. King January, 1965
http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/lbjforkids/civil_audio.htm

The President’s Daily Diary: March 11, 1965
http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/diary/1965/650311.asp

The President’s Daily Diary: March 12, 1965
http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/diary/1965/650312.asp

The President’s Daily Diary: March 13, 1965
http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/diary/1965/650313.asp

The President’s Daily Diary: March 14, 1965
http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/diary/1965/650314.asp

The President’s Daily Diary: March 15, 1965
http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/diary/1965/650315.asp

Highlights from telephone conversations (January – March 1065)
http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/dictabelt.hom/highlights/65jan-mar.asp

Remarks for the Voting Rights Act—August 6, 1965
http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/speeches.hom/650806.asp

Click here to print worksheet

Developed by Alabama Focus on Civil Rights Educators

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