On March 7, 1965, at the height of the civil rights movement, Hosea Williams of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and John Lewis, Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), led a march supporting local voting rights. Along with 600 others, they attempted to cross the now-famous Edmund Pettus Bridge but were met with violence by about 150 Alabama state troopers. It was televised and became known as “Bloody Sunday”.
Outrage swept the country. Sympathizers staged sit-ins, created traffic blockades, and protested in solidarity with the voting rights marchers. Dr. Martin Luther King called on religious leaders from across the nation to gather support for a 5-day, 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery organized by the SCLC and SNCC. Despite caution from President Johnson, on March 9th, Dr. King and 2,000 supporters--including hundreds of clergy members--marched to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, knelt down, and offered a prayer. The group then turned around and returned to Selma, avoiding confrontation with state troopers and violent opposition. Dr. King explained, “There never was a moment in American history more honorable and more inspiring than the pilgrimage of clergymen and laymen of every race and faith pouring into Selma to face danger at the side of its embattled Negroes.”
Days later President Johnson submitted voting rights legislation to Congress, which later became the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Several Elmhurst residents participated in the second march, including members of the Elmhurst Human Relation Council, a teacher from York Community High School, 23 Elmhurst College students, 3 college professors, and two priests from Immaculate Conception, including Bernard Kleina, whose photographs are featured in this exhibition.