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Selma to Montgomery Marches Timeline

(March 7–25, 1965)

The Selma to Montgomery Marches were a series of civil rights demonstrations in Alabama in 1965 that challenged voter suppression and helped lead to the Voting Rights Act. Less

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Marches and repression

Bloody Sunday march begins

Mar 7, 1965

An estimated 525 to 600 civil rights marchers headed southeast from Selma on U.S. Highway 80, beginning the first Selma to Montgomery march.

Image source: Selma to Montgomery marches

Bloody Sunday march begins

Marchers approach the Edmund Pettus Bridge

Mar 7, 1965

The marchers crossed toward the Edmund Pettus Bridge while attempting to proceed along the highway toward Montgomery.

Image source: Edmund Pettus Bridge

Marchers approach the Edmund Pettus Bridge

State forces confront marchers

Mar 7, 1965

State troopers and county possemen confronted the unarmed protesters after they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Bloody Sunday attack

Mar 7, 1965

The officers charged the marchers with batons and tear gas, ending the first attempt to march from Selma toward Montgomery.

First march is halted

Mar 7, 1965

The first march was stopped before reaching Montgomery, making the violence at the bridge a nationally visible episode in the voting-rights campaign.

Marchers return to the bridge

Mar 9, 1965

The second march proceeded from Selma toward the Edmund Pettus Bridge during the continuing campaign for voting rights.

Image source: Selma to Montgomery marches

Marchers return to the bridge

Second march is organized

Mar 9, 1965

James Bevel, Martin Luther King Jr., Diane Nash, and others organized a second march for Tuesday, March 9.

Second march remains nonviolent

Mar 9, 1965

The organizers continued to use nonviolent direct action as they sought a federally protected route from Selma to Montgomery.

James Reeb dies after Selma attack

Mar 11, 1965

Following the death of James Reeb, a white Unitarian minister who had come to support the Selma campaign, pressure for federal action intensified.

Image source: James Reeb

James Reeb dies after Selma attack

Support grows for completing the march

Mar 17, 1965

Civil rights organizers and supporters continued working toward a march between Selma and Montgomery under federal protection.

The route to Montgomery remains central

Mar 20, 1965

The 54-mile route along U.S. Highway 80 remained the central focus of the campaign for voting rights.

The third march is prepared

Mar 21, 1965

The movement prepared for the third and successful Selma to Montgomery march after the earlier marches had been blocked or halted.

Federal response

National attention focuses on Selma

Mar 8, 1965

The assault on the marchers intensified national attention on Selma and increased pressure for federal voting-rights legislation.

Reeb’s death intensifies national pressure

Mar 11, 1965

Reeb’s death made the violence surrounding the voting-rights campaign a national political crisis.

Federal protection is sought for marchers

Mar 12, 1965

The campaign continued pressing for federal protection and authorization to complete the route between Selma and Montgomery.

Selma campaign gains national visibility

Mar 13, 1965

Events in Selma continued receiving national attention as organizers and supporters called for voting-rights protections.

Voting-rights bill is presented

Mar 15, 1965

Johnson presented a bill to Congress that would become the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Image source: Voting Rights Act of 1965

Voting-rights bill is presented

Reeb memorial becomes nationally symbolic

Mar 15, 1965

The memorial service became a prominent national symbol of the violence and sacrifice surrounding the Selma voting-rights campaign.

Johnson addresses joint session of Congress

Mar 15, 1965

President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered a historic, nationally televised address to a joint session of Congress and urged lawmakers to pass voting-rights legislation.

Johnson invokes the Selma struggle

Mar 15, 1965

Johnson used the national crisis created by the Selma marches and Bloody Sunday to demand federal voting-rights protections.

Congress receives the voting-rights appeal

Mar 16, 1965

Following Johnson’s address, Congress began considering the proposed voting-rights legislation prompted by the Selma campaign.

Federal response to Selma continues

Mar 18, 1965

The national response to Selma continued as the administration and Congress pursued legislation to protect African Americans’ right to vote.

Selma campaign

National civil rights leaders support Selma

Mar 10, 1965

Civil rights leaders and organizations continued coordinating support for the Selma campaign after the first two marches.

Medical support remains available

Mar 10, 1965

The Medical Committee for Human Rights, organized with SNCC support during the Mississippi Summer Project, provided medical assistance connected with the movement.

Organizers coordinate the next march

Mar 13, 1965

Bevel, King, Nash, and other organizers continued coordinating the campaign and planning the next attempt to reach Montgomery.

Civil rights supporters gather in Selma

Mar 14, 1965

Supporters gathered in Selma in advance of the memorial service and the continuing voting-rights campaign.

Brown’s Chapel AME hosts memorial

Mar 15, 1965

A memorial service for James Reeb was held at Brown’s Chapel AME Church.

Image source: Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church (Selma, Alabama)

Brown’s Chapel AME hosts memorial

King attends Reeb memorial

Mar 15, 1965

Martin Luther King Jr. attended the memorial service for James Reeb in Selma.

Supporters prepare for Reeb memorial

Mar 15, 1965

Civil rights supporters prepared for a memorial service at Brown’s Chapel AME Church after Reeb’s death.

March planning continues in Selma

Mar 19, 1965

Organizers continued preparations for the movement’s effort to travel the 54-mile highway from Selma to Montgomery.

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Key Facts

  1. The marches sought to secure voting rights for Black citizens who faced discriminatory laws, intimidation, and violence in Alabama.
  2. The first march, held on March 7, became known as Bloody Sunday after state and local officers attacked peaceful marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
  3. The second march, led by Martin Luther King Jr. on March 9, stopped at the bridge because of a federal court order restricting the route.
  4. The successful third march began on March 21 and reached the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery on March 25, with thousands of participants.
  5. The national attention generated by the marches helped build support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6.

Source

This Selma to Montgomery Marches timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

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