The Selma to Montgomery Marches | Drive Thru History with Dave Stotts

This is Brown Chapel Ame Church in Selma, Alabama, a National Historic Landmark since 1982. This church served as a makeshift office for Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference during the Selma campaign of 1965. The campaign Selma was organized primarily to fight racial suppression of voting rights in Alabama and at the Brown Chapel Ame Church in the southern United States. It was also the starting point of the historic Selma to Montgomery

marches

and the

selma

to

montgomery

were three demonstrations held during the 1965 march and were organized as non-violent protests to raise awareness about racial injustice and the voting rights movement in alabama the basic concept was to walk the 54 miles from here in the brown chapel ame church in

selma

to the capitol building in

montgomery

increasing the number of protesters and media coverage along the way don't give up but in a great outpouring with the gentle signs and joyous thunders of the ages , all of us can start singing glory, hallelujah, our god is marching on the marching band.

The first of three

marches

began on March 7, 1965. This became the infamous Bloody Sunday when armed police attacked protesters with batons and tear gas as they attempted to cross the Alabama River here at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The bridge itself has an infamous namesake, Edmund Winston Pettis, former Confederate general, U.S. senator, and grand dragon of the Ku. klux klan now protesters were eventually blocked and forced to return to brown chapel ame church, but it was these images that put the selma campaign on the national map. The second march took place on March 9, just two days later, again the demonstration was met with the police. resistance here on the Edmund Pettus Bridge this time Martin Luther King Jr. had joined the protesters, led the group to obey a federal order against the march and they turned around on the bridge returning to Brown Chapel Ame Church to await a decision legal about this march. it became known as tuesday back that night a key protester and visiting minister from boston named james reeb was murdered in selma between the events of bloody sunday and the murder of minister reeb selma was making national headlines almost two weeks later with the support of the media and the courts a third march left the brown chapel of ame church and successfully crossed the edmond pettis bridge to begin the four day trek to montgomery the third march followed route 80 between selma and montgomery the us- 80 is an east-west numbered highway in the United States much of which was once part of the automobile trail known as the Dixie Overland Highway, the zero in the route number indicates that it was originally a cross-country route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean;

However, the entire segment west of Dallas, Texas, has now been dismantled. In 1996, the National Park Service designated this portion of Route 80 as the Selma to Montgomery National Voting Rights Trail. There is an information center and they have even marked several sites used as camps during the 1965 marches, since of course this is the

history

of vehicle tours. we are going to lead the national journey from selma to montgomery for the right to vote it was a march into the unknown and tensions were at an all-time high the governor of alabama, a southern democrat named george wallace, known for his segregationist views, did not intended to accede to the protesters' demands and I say segregation now segregation tomorrow and segregation forever and we hope to see the greatest testimony to freedom that has ever taken place on the steps of the capital of any southern state was here at the capitol from the state of alabama that the third march from selma to montgomery finally ended on march 25, 1965 approximately 25,000 protesters gathered at the foot of the capitol steps here on dexter avenue martin luther king jr and several other prominent activists led the group in an attempt to meet with governor george wallace and give him a petition calling for an end to racial injustice and the suppression of voting rights in alabama in part the petition said that we have come not just five days and 50 miles but we have come three centuries of suffering and hardship. to you, the governor of alabama, to declare that we must have our freedom now we must have the right to vote we must have equal protection of the law and an end to police brutality they were denied entry but dr. king gave one of his impassioned speeches at the base of the steps of the capitol building we are not turning around we are on the move now yes we are on the move and no wave of racism can stop us even though the meeting never took place and the petition It was never given to the governor by the media.

The awareness was enormous, especially in light of the terrible events of Bloody Sunday a couple of weeks earlier. Collectively, the Selma to Montgomery marches played an important role in pushing for the passage of the American Voting Rights Act of 1965, just a few months after these steps in the state of Alabama. The Capitol remains as it was in 1965, although repairs were made during the building's renovation in 1992. These steps have continued to be the gathering point for civil demonstrations over the years. Memorial marches from Selma to Montgomery have ended here at these steps on several occasions since 1965. .