Commemorating the Spirit of the Selma March: From the SWC Archives

March 5, 2021

This Sunday, marks the 56th anniversary of the historic march by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and many advocates of the civil rights movement who marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma all the way to the Alabama state capital in Montgomery to fight for equal voter rights. As many as 25,000 people participated in the roughly 50-mile march. Together, these events became a landmark in the American civil rights movement and directly led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Simon Wiesenthal Center is sharing a unique photograph, chosen from the SWC Archives that represents the spirit of this momentous event.

Photo: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leads a protest march around the state capital in Montgomery, Alabama, protesting the treatment of black demonstrators and voter applicants in Selma prior to the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery March. Pictured in the photo (left to right): Ralph Abernathy, James Forman (in overalls and tie), Dr. King, Reverend S.L. Douglas, and John Lewis. Photographer: Bob Adelman

This photo is part of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s rich archival holdings culled from around the globe.

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).