'Bloody Sunday' Attack at Edmund Pettus Bridge / U.S. Congress Approves Voting Rights Act of 1965

'Bloody Sunday' Attack at Edmund Pettus Bridge / U.S. Congress Approves Voting Rights Act of 1965 (HM1JR5)

Location: Selma, AL 36701 Dallas County
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Country: United States of America
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N 32° 24.384', W 87° 1.144'

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Side 1

'Bloody Sunday' Attack at Edmund Pettus Bridge


A voting registration campaign in 1965 turned tragic Feb. 17 when an Alabama state trooper fatally shot Jimmie Lee Jackson in Marion. It prompted a protest march from Selma to Montgomery that triggered a milestone event in the Civil Rights Movement.

On March 7, John Lewis and Hosea Williams led a group of 600 African Americans from Brown Chapel AME Church six blocks and across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. State Public Service Director Al Lingo ordered armed troopers to attack the marchers, hospitalizing 50.


Two weeks later, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Ralph Abernathy led a court-approved march with federal protection. It covered 54 miles and reached the State Capitol on March 25. In a speech before 25,000, King said "the arch of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." Racists killed Boston minister James Reeb on March 11 and Detroit housewife Viola Gregg Liuzzo on March 25.
The marker was unveiled in March 2015 during the 50th Anniversary Commemoration of the Selma Voting Rights Movement


Side 2

U.S. Congress Approves Voting Rights Act of 1965


Television coverage of 'Bloody Sunday' shocked millions and galvanized support for Congress to remove obstacles that prevented minorities from voting. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 on Aug. 6. As a result, many blacks won local elections in the South.

In 2007, a bridge crossing reenactment attracted presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. When Obama won the Democratic nomination the following year, he spoke of the bridge in Selma in his acceptance speech. In 2009, nearly two million witnessed
the inauguration of America's first black president.

"Selma," the Oprah Winfrey and Ava DuVernay film about voting rights,
was nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award shortly before the 50th anniversary of 'Bloody Sunday.'
Details
HM NumberHM1JR5
Tags
Year Placed2015
Placed ByThe Alabama Tourism Department
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Thursday, March 26th, 2015 at 1:02am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)16S E 498207 N 3585483
Decimal Degrees32.40640000, -87.01906667
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 32° 24.384', W 87° 1.144'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds32° 24' 23.04" N, 87° 1' 8.64" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)334
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling North
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 1 Broad St, Selma AL 36701, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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