Selma to Montgomery marches

==Selma movement established: 1963–1964==
At the turn of the 20th century, the Alabama state legislature passed a new constitution that effectively [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchised]] most blacks and many poor whites by requirements for payment of a [[poll tax (United States)|poll tax]] and passing a [[literacy test]] and comprehension of the constitution. Subjective application of the laws effectively closed most blacks out of politics. Selma is a major town and the seat of [[Dallas County, Alabama|Dallas County]], part of the [[Alabama Black Belt]] with a majority-black population. In 1961, the population of Dallas County was 57% black, but of the 15,000 blacks old enough to vote, only 130 were registered (fewer than 1%). At that time, more than 80% of Dallas County blacks lived below the poverty line, most of them working as [[sharecroppers]], farmhands, maids, janitors, and day laborers, but there were also teachers and business owners.<ref name="Selma — Cracking the Wall of Fear">[http://www.crmvet.org/tim/timhis63.htm#1963selma1 "Selma – Breaking the Grip of Fear"] ~ Civil Rights Movement Archive.</ref> With the literacy test administered subjectively by white registrars, even educated blacks were prevented from registering or voting.<ref>[http://www.crmvet.org/info/lithome.htm Are You "Qualified" to Vote? The Alabama "Literacy Test"] ~ Civil Rights Movement Archive.</ref>

Led by the Boynton family ([[Amelia Boynton Robinson|Amelia]], Sam, and son Bruce), Rev. L. L. Anderson, [[J. L. Chestnut]], and [[Marie Foster]], the Dallas County Voters League (DCVL) tried to register black citizens during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Their efforts were blocked by state and local officials, the [[Citizens' Councils|White Citizens' Council]], and the [[Ku Klux Klan]]. By the 1960s, county officials and the Citizens' Council used such tactics as restricted registration hours; economic pressure, including threatening people's jobs, firing them, evicting people from leased homes, and economic boycotts of black-owned businesses; and violence against blacks who tried to register. [[Society of Saint Edmund|The Society of Saint Edmund]], an order of Catholics committed to alleviating poverty and promoting civil rights, were the only whites in Selma who openly supported the voting rights campaign.<ref>[http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1898 "Edmundite Southern Missions"], ''Encyclopedia of Alabama''.</ref> [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee|SNCC]] staff member Don Jelinek later described this order as "the unsung heroes of the Selma March&nbsp;... who provided the only integrated Catholic church in Selma, and perhaps in the entire [[Deep South]]".<ref>"[http://www.crmvet.org/nars/jelinek.htm#scrufse Don Jelinek, Oral History/Interview, 2005-Selma Underground: Fathers of St. Edmund]", Civil Rights Movement Archive.</ref>

In early 1963, [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee|SNCC]] organizers [[Bernard Lafayette]] and [[Colia Clark|Colia Liddel Lafayette]] arrived in Selma to begin a voter-registration project in cooperation with the DCVL.<ref name="Selma — Cracking the Wall of Fear" /> In mid-June, Bernard was beaten and almost killed by [[Ku Klux Klan|Klansmen]] determined to prevent blacks from voting. When the Lafayettes returned to college in the fall, SNCC organizers [[Prathia Hall]] and Worth Long carried on the work despite arrests, beatings, and death threats. When 32 black school teachers applied at the county courthouse to register as voters, they were immediately fired by the all-white school board.{{citation needed|date = March 2024}}
 
After the [[16th Street Baptist Church bombing|Birmingham church bombing]] on September 15, 1963, which killed four black girls, black students in Selma began [[sit-in]]s at local lunch counters to protest segregation; they were physically attacked and arrested. More than 300 were arrested in two weeks of protests, including SNCC Chairman [[John Lewis]].<ref>[http://www.crmvet.org/tim/tim63b.htm#1963fdselma "Freedom Day in Selma"], Civil Rights Movement Archive.</ref>

On October 7, 1963, one of two days during the month when residents were allowed to go to the courthouse to apply to register to vote, SNCC's [[James Forman]] and the DCVL mobilized more than 300 blacks from Dallas County to line up at the voter registration office in what was called a "Freedom Day". Supporting them were national figures: author [[James Baldwin (writer)|James Baldwin]] and his brother David, and comedian [[Dick Gregory]] and his wife Lillian (she was later arrested for picketing with SNCC activists and local supporters). SNCC members who tried to bring water to African Americans waiting in line were arrested, as were those who held signs saying "Register to Vote". After waiting all day in the hot sun, only a handful of the hundreds in the line were allowed to fill out the voter application, and most of those applications were denied by white county officials. United States Justice Department lawyers and [[FBI]] agents were present and observing the scene, but took no action against local officials.<ref>{{cite book |last=Zinn |first=Howard |title=SNCC: The New Abolitionists |publisher=Beacon Press |year=1965|title-link=SNCC: The New Abolitionists}}</ref>

On July 2, 1964, President [[Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson]] signed the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] into law, prohibiting segregation of public facilities. Some [[Jim Crow laws]] and customs remained in effect in Selma and other places for some time. When activists resumed efforts to integrate Selma's eating and entertainment venues, blacks who tried to attend the Wilby Theatre or the Selmont [[Drive-in theater]] and eat at the 25¢<!--is price of the burger truly important to the story?--> hamburger stand<!--at the theater or elsewhere?--> were both beaten and arrested.{{citation needed|date = March 2024}}

On July 6, 1964, one of the two registration days that month, John Lewis led 50 black citizens to the courthouse, but [[Jim Clark (sheriff)|County Sheriff Jim Clark]] arrested them all instead of allowing them to apply to vote. On July 9, 1964, Judge [[James Hare (judge)|James Hare]] issued an injunction forbidding any gathering of three or more people under the sponsorship of civil rights organizations or leaders. This injunction made it illegal for more than two people at a time to talk about civil rights or voter registration in Selma, suppressing public civil rights activity there for the next six months.<ref>[http://www.crmvet.org/tim/timhis64.htm#1964selmainj "The Selma Injunction"], Civil Rights Movement Archive.</ref>