The Jeoffroy Collection - Selma to Montgomery March (1965)

Duration: 16:05

Year Published: 1965

Format: 16mm

Sound: silent

Description: This home movie taken by Ray Jeoffroy of Amarillo captures scenes of civil rights demonstrators launching a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in March 1965. The marches were a part of the Selma Voting Rights Campaign, a movement that sought to combat racial inequality and the obstruction of voting registration for African Americans. Attracting thousands of participants, not to mention national and international coverage, the march became an integral part of the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement, and ultimately led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In the footage, protesters gather outside the Brown Chapel while law enforcement vehicles and personnel string the surrounding streets. After the marchers depart, others congregate outside of the church, which also served as the headquarters for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organization co-founded by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.