On March 7, 1965, a Sunday, thousands of singing marchers were leaving Selma on their way to Montgomery, Alabama, the state Capital. These demonstrators were intending to demand of Governor George Wallace the right to vote. However, they never made it that far. On the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the gateway to the town of Selma, the marchers were savagely attacked and beaten by state and local police. A couple of days later Martin Luther King, Jr. led thousands of marchers on to the Edmund Pettus Bridge once again. However, to avoid a repeat confrontation, the marchers knelt and prayed, and turned around – rather than defy a court order. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) succeeded in getting the court order lifted. Then, on March 21, 1965, Dr. King led the marchers on the complete 54 mile march from Selma to Montgomery. In Montgomery, Dr. King delivered a historic speech outside the Capitol building. These events on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, directly led to Congress passing the Johnson sponsored 1965 Voting Rights Act. Over the years, there have been several reenactments of the historic march from Selma to Montgomery. A National Voting Rights Museum has been established at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the outskirts of the town of Selma. And, each year (now) state Senator Hank Sanders and his wife Rose, together with a local host committee, sponsor a Bridge Crossing Jubilee to re-enact and commemorate the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge crossing.
The battle for African American voting rights took place at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma Alabama
March 7, 1965 | Civil Rights Marchers Attacked in Selma – NYTimes …
7 Mar 2012 … As the demonstrators crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, they were ordered by the police to disperse. When they stood in place, the …
Nancy C. Curtis, published 1996, 677 pages
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pennstatespecial/8470227203/
The Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, AL.
Historic Edmund Pettus Bridge
Today in History: March 7 – American Memory – Library of Congress
4 Nov 2010 … John Lewis (on right in trench coat) and Hosea Williams (on the left) lead marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. On Sunday March 7, …
Selma to Montgomery marches – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The protest went according to plan until the marchers crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where they found a wall of state troopers waiting for them on the other …
Edmund Pettus Bridge, ‘Bloody Sunday’ Site, Declared A Historic …
11 Mar 2013 … Vice President Joe Biden and other lawmakers leads a group across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., Sunday, March 3, 2013.
The Edmund Pettus Bridge is a bridge that carries U.S. Route 80 across the Alabama River in Selma, Alabama. Built in 1940, it is named for Edmund Winston …
Edmund Pettus Bridge The Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, Alabama Photograph courtesy of the Alabama Historical Commission. Marchers meet the Police …
23 Aug 2006 … … and Hosea Williams, about 525 peaceful marchers are violently assaulted by state police near the Edmund Pettus Bridge outside Selma.