Selma-to-Montgomery Historic Trail Opens
The Selma-to-Montgomery Historic Trail, maintained by the National Park Service, is a memorial to the historic 1965 voting rights march that was instrumental in raising support for the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The most famous part of the march was “Bloody Sunday,” on March 7, 1965, when local police and state troopers brutally beat civil rights activists trying to begin the march in Selma, Alabama. SNCC leader John Lewis was at the head of the march, and suffered major injuries. Lewis later became a respected senior member of the House of Representatives.
After “Bloody Sunday” civil rights leaders again attempted to conduct a march to Montgomery, but a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order. While the civil rights leaders waited for a court decision on their right to march, President Lyndon Johnson on March 15, 1965 delivered a nationally televised speech to Congress in which he promised to propose a comprehensive voting rights bill. The speech, one of the most eloquent and famous in the history of the presidency, was titled “The American Promise.” The federal judge then ruled in favor of the marchers and the march resumed on March 21, 1965, with thousands of supporters from around the country traveling to Alabama and joining the march. It reached Montgomery, the state capitol of Alabama, on March 25, 1965.
Most important, the march helped generate public and political support for a voting rights law, and President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law on August 6, 1965.
Visit the trail: http://www.nps.gov/semo/index.htm
Watch newsreel of “Bloody Sunday”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cNnG8xfy20
Don’t Miss the Acclaimed Film: Selma (2015)
View a timeline on the history of the Voting Rights Act: https://www.aclu.org/timeline-history-voting-rights-act
Visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture here