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March 1965

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Achievement · leadership
John Lewis leads Bloody Sunday march at Edmund Pettus Bridge

SNCC chairman John Lewis led 600 marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965, where state troopers attacked them with clubs and tear gas in an event broadcast nationwide and known as Bloody Sunday. The images of Lewis's fractured skull and beaten marchers shocked the nation and directly led to President Johnson introducing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Events

  1. March 7, 1965
    John Lewis leads Bloody Sunday march at Edmund Pettus Bridge

    SNCC chairman John Lewis led 600 marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965, where state troopers attacked them with clubs and tear gas in an event broadcast nationwide and known as Bloody Sunday. The images of Lewis's fractured skull and beaten marchers shocked the nation and directly led to President Johnson introducing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

  2. March 7, 1965
    Bloody Sunday: Marchers Beaten on Edmund Pettus Bridge

    State troopers and a mounted posse attacked 600 peaceful marchers at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. John Lewis suffered a fractured skull. The televised images shocked the nation and compelled President Johnson to introduce the Voting Rights Act within weeks.

  3. March 7, 1965
    Bloody Sunday — John Lewis leads Selma to Montgomery march

    John Lewis and Hosea Williams led 600 marchers across Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge, where state troopers attacked them with clubs and tear gas in full view of television cameras. The broadcast images of Bloody Sunday horrified the nation and created the political momentum that passed the Voting Rights Act five months later.