Demonstrators march for voting rights in Selma, Alabama, on March 9, 1965.

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STANDARDS

NCSS: Culture • Time, Continuity, and Change • Individual Development and Identity • Individuals, Groups, and Institutions • Power, Authority, and Governance • Civic Ideals and Practices

Common Core: RH.6-8.1, RH.6-8.2, RH.6-8.3, RH.6-8.4, RH.6-8.5, RH.6-8.6, RH.6-8.7, RH.6-8.9, WHST.6-8.4, WHST.6-8.7, WHST.6-8.9, RI.6-8.1, RI.6-8.2, RI.6-8.3, RI.6-8.4, RI.6-8.5, RI.6-8.6, RI.6-8.7, RI.6-8.9, W.6-8.4, W.6-8.7, W.6-8.9

U.S. HISTORY

Eyewitness to History

Voices From Selma

Sixty years ago, protesters marched across Alabama to demand voting rights for Black Americans. Their efforts helped make it illegal to deny any American the right to vote based on race. These are the stories of people who were there. 

Question: In what ways can an individual’s experience reflect the struggles of a nation? 

Steve Schapiro/Corbis via Getty Images

John Lewis

Would you risk your life to be able to vote?

In the early 1960s, many Black Americans were doing just that. Although the U.S. Constitution guaranteed them the right to vote, White officials in much of the South prevented them from casting ballots. Local and state leaders used methods such as literacy tests and fees called poll taxes to discourage Black voters. In many places, Black people who tried to register to vote could be fired from their jobs or even killed.

That was especially true in Selma, Alabama. In Dallas County, where the city is located, only about 2 percent of eligible Black residents were registered to cast ballots.

To draw attention to the voting struggles in Selma and throughout the South, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. decided to stage a protest there. The plan was to march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery, 54 miles away. Once there, the protesters would demand that Alabama Governor George Wallace end voter discrimination.

A young activist named John Lewis helped lead the march. With Lewis in front, the group of about 600 people—mostly Black Americans—set off from Selma on March 7, 1965. Their route took them across the Edmund Pettus Bridge at the edge of the city. A mass of White state troopers was waiting at the other end. The troopers had orders from Wallace not to let the marchers get any farther. They charged at the peaceful protesters, attacking them with clubs, whips, and tear gas. 

The day became known as Bloody Sunday. No one was killed, but about 100 of the marchers were taken to the hospital—including Lewis, who suffered a skull fracture. The violence was broadcast on the national news, outraging Americans across the country. 

Jim McMahon/Mapman® 

In the weeks to come, there would be two more attempts to march from Selma to Montgomery, including one on March 9. The third attempt, which began on March 21, was successful. With protection from the U.S. government, about 300 demonstrators made the four-day journey. Toward the end, thousands more joined in. 

On March 25, 1965, roughly 25,000 marchers—including people of different races from all over the United States—reached Montgomery. Lewis, still recovering from his injuries, was once again at the front of the crowd. From the Alabama State Capitol steps, King addressed the marchers—and the nation.

The Selma marches were a turning point in the U.S. civil rights movement. They helped secure stronger voting protections for Americans of every race. What was it like to take part in the historic demonstrations? Keep reading to read first-person accounts from Lewis and other people who participated.

John Lewis
Braving Bloody Sunday

Steve Schapiro/Corbis via Getty Images

Since 1963, John Lewis (right) had been trying in vain to help Black Americans in Selma register to vote. The Alabama native had also taken part in sit-ins and other demonstrations to challenge racial discrimination throughout the South. He viewed the Selma marches as a way to finally change history. 

Two decades after the marches, Lewis was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He served in the House for 34 years, continuing to push for equality for all Americans. In 2015, Lewis shared his memories of Bloody Sunday with Junior Scholastic. He died in 2020, at 80 years old.

Why did you decide to march for voting rights in Alabama? 
I participated in the Selma-to-Montgomery marches because I wanted change. As a young child, I never liked seeing signs that said “White” or “Colored.”* I would ask my parents why segregation and racial discrimination existed. They would say, “That’s the way it is.” I could never make peace with that injustice within myself.  

From my work in political organizing, I knew that the vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool citizens have in a democratic society to effect change. I marched to protest the discriminatory practices throughout the South and other parts of America that were used to keep people of color from voting and creating change.

AP Images

Alabama state troopers charge at the marchers on March 7, 1965, in Selma, Alabama. John Lewis (on the ground, right) suffered a skull fracture.

What was going through your mind on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965?
We knew we would face some kind of confrontation that day. Most of us thought we would be arrested. We were all concerned when we saw the sea of blue—Alabama state troopers. I was prepared to die on that bridge in Alabama, if necessary. I would rather fight for freedom than live in the bondage of segregation.   

After you were injured on Bloody Sunday, did you ever think about giving up? 
No, I never thought about giving up. I tell young people today they must never, ever give up on something they believe in. I feel very blessed to have played a role in paving the way for millions of Americans to register and vote.

How are the Selma marches still relevant today?
The marches teach us that every person is important, especially in a democratic system. No one is of lesser value because of the color of their skin, their education, or their culture. Every human being has dignity and worth regardless of their differences.

*The term colored, once used to describe Black people, is now considered outdated and offensive.

Note: This is an edited, condensed version of the interview with John Lewis.

Sara Hertwig

Sheldon Steinhauser 
Joining the March

Sheldon Steinhauser (above) was horrified when he saw the violence of Bloody Sunday on the news. A human rights activist from Colorado, he wanted to support the marchers. Steinhauser, along with about 100 other people from his state, flew to Alabama. They joined the third march just outside Montgomery.

"It was just a powerful scene to see all these people assembled getting ready for the morning march. And so some of us walked to the front of the encampment where Dr. King was sitting with a couple of his supporters. We just introduced ourselves. And I said, “Dr. King, we’re here from Colorado to support the wonderful work you’re doing.” And, you know, he got up and shook our hands and he said, “Thank you very much for coming” in a very humble kind of a tone, which is what he was. . . . "

"When we . . . started to walk into Montgomery, we had any number of African American citizens on their porches and coming down to us holding their water cans and cups because they knew what we didn’t know yet—and that was that every water spigot in town had been turned off so that we wouldn’t have access to water. . . . They were so grateful to us for being there to support them. We were the ones who were very grateful to them."

SOURCE: Colorado Public Radio

Kathy Willens/AP Images

Lynda Blackmon Lowery
Reaching Montgomery

Lynda Blackmon Lowery (above) was the youngest person to march from Selma to Montgomery, turning 15 along the journey. And she almost didn’t get to go. The teen had been badly injured in Bloody Sunday, requiring more than 30 stitches to her face and head. Her father had been hesitant to let her take part again. But she was determined to finish what she had started. 

"When we got to Montgomery, we had to wait about two hours over by the airport. [Then King] led us to the City of St. Jude [a historic neighborhood in Montgomery], where we camped at overnight. And I remember when we got to the City of St. Jude I just started crying. I fell down on the ground, and I started crying and nobody could console me. And I remember Ms. Mary Lamar [my neighbor from Selma] telling people, “Just leave her alone. She’ll be all right. Just let her cry. She ain’t crying blood. Just leave her alone.” And I cried until I had no more tears to cry I guess. But I felt that I was crying out that fear, that hatred, that I had bottled up inside of me."

SOURCE: Oral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza (jfk.org)

AP Images

Martin Luther King Jr. calls for voting rights from the steps of the Alabama State Capitol.

Martin Luther King Jr.
Addressing the Crowd

When the crowd arrived at the Alabama State Capitol, it reached as far as the eye could see. King climbed the Capitol steps to address the marchers. He gave one of his most famous speeches, called “Our God Is Marching On.” In the speech, King made an impassioned call for voting rights and vowed to continue fighting for equality for Black Americans. 

“We are not about to turn around. . . . We are on the move, and no wave of racism can stop us.”

Lyndon B. Johnson
Signing Voting Rights Into Law

AP Images

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965.

As marchers in Alabama risked their lives for the right to cast ballots, President Lyndon B. Johnson began to push for stronger voting protections for Black Americans.

A few months after the marches, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The legislation made it illegal to deny any American the right to vote based on race. It outlawed literacy tests and poll taxes.

Experts today say the Voting Rights Act is one of the most successful civil rights laws in U.S. history. By 1968, more than 50 percent of eligible Black voters were registered to vote in states across the South. Prior to signing the bill into law on August 6, 1965, Johnson made a speech. Here is an excerpt. 

"Today is a triumph for freedom as huge as any victory that has ever been won on any battlefield. . . . This act flows from a clear and simple wrong. Its only purpose is to right that wrong. Millions of Americans are denied the right to vote because of their color. This law will ensure them the right to vote. The wrong is one which no American, in his heart, can justify. The right is one which no American, true to our principles, can deny. . . . And every family across this great, entire, searching land will live stronger in liberty, will live more splendid in expectation, and will be prouder to be American because of the act that you have passed that I will sign today."

SOURCE: LBJ Presidential Library

YOUR TURN

Analyze Primary Sources

What details from these primary sources stand out to you? Why? How does each account help you understand the U.S. civil rights movement and the struggle for voting rights that many people in the South faced?


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