Selma

A Confederate manufacturing center during the American Civil War, Selma, Alabama, became the site of civil rights tragedy and victory. After the 1964 Civil Rights Act took effect, Martin Luther King Jr. sought to specifically pursue voting rights for African Americans. King and his followers chose the city of Selma to focus the nation’s attention on the need for further Civil Rights legislation. In 1965, demonstrations began in Selma. A march was planned for Sunday, March 7, from Selma to Montgomery, which is Alabama’s capital. In Montgomery a petition demanding that African Americans be allowed to vote was to be delivered to Governor George Wallace. When protesters reached the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they were met by police and state troopers. The marchers were savagely beaten, and over sixty were injured, while sixteen had to be hospitalized due to severe injuries. Another brutal incident took place in Selma several days later on “Bloody Sunday” when a protesting minister was beaten to death. The nation responded with outrage to these violent episodes, and President Johnson pledged his support for a voting rights bill. On March 21, protesters finally completed their march from Selma to Montgomery.

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