On the fifth day of the Selma-to-Montgomery march, 25,000 civil rights, labor, and religious supporters entered the City of Montgomery to petition the State of Alabama for the right to vote.

From the City of St. Jude, along city streets patroled by Army and National Guard troops and lined with spectators and military protectors, the marchers made thier way through segregated neighborhood into downtown Montgomery.

Families, old and young, black and white --...
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On the fifth day of the Selma-to-Montgomery march, 25,000 civil rights, labor, and religious supporters entered the City of Montgomery to petition the State of Alabama for the right to vote.

From the City of St. Jude, along city streets patroled by Army and National Guard troops and lined with spectators and military protectors, the marchers made thier way through segregated neighborhood into downtown Montgomery.

Families, old and young, black and white -- mostly poor -- came out into their yards, porches, and front steps to witness the historic event as the seemingly-endless multi-racial multitude, often singing in the intermitant showers, took hours to pass their homes.

Downtown, on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol, an unprecedented array of civil rights leaders and entertainers amplified the marcher's voices with stirring oratory and songs of the civil rights movement.

The Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March was a milestone leading to passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on August 6, 1965.
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