On March 7, 1965, 525 civil rights activists began a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Just outside Selma, heavily armed police and deputies broke up the march with billy clubs and tear gas, injuring sixty-five people and hospitalizing 17 in a melee that became known as "Bloody Sunday."



After federal court protection had been secured, 3200 marchers started out again on March 21; by the time they reached Montgomery on March 25, their numbers had swelled to 25,000. Learn more about the Selma-to-Montgomery March from the US National Parks Service, which preserves the route as a National Historic Trail.