Selma-to-Montgomery+March,+1965+-+Photograph

Then copy, paste, and answer the 8 questions below the essay in a discussion post for this wiki page.

On August 7, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, one of the most important pieces of legislation in America since the era of Reconstruction. It signaled the victory of a battle that was fought five months earlier in DallasCounty, Alabama. On March 25, twenty-five thousand participants— the largest civil rights gathering the South had yet seen—converged on the state capital of Montgomery, concluding a four-day march for voting rights that began in Selma, fifty-four miles away.

James Karales, a photographer for the popular biweekly magazine Look, was sent to illustrate an article covering the march. Titled “Turning Point for the Church,” the piece focused on the involvement of the clergy in the civil rights movement—specifically, the events in Selma that followed the murder of a white minister from the North who had gone down to supportvoting rights for blacks. Karales’s photograph of this event captured the spirit and determination of civil rights workers during those tense and dangerous times.

In the week before Karales took this iconic picture, two unsuccessful attempts to march on the capital had already been made. On Sunday, March 5, the first activists, recorded by television cameras and still photographers, crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge out of Selma. Horrified viewers watched as unarmed marchers, including women and children, were assaulted by Alabama state troopers using tear gas, clubs, and whips. The group turned back battered but undefeated. “Bloody Sunday,” as it became known, only strengthened the movement and increased public support. Ordinary citizens, as well as priests, ministers, nuns, and rabbis who had been called to Selma by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., flocked to join its ranks. The second attempt—“Turnaround Tuesday”—which Karales had been sent down to cover, was halted at the bridge by Dr. King before anyone was injured. Finally, six days later, the last march began after President Johnson mobilized the National Guard and delivered his voting rights legislation to Congress.

Karales’s Selma-to-Montgomery March for Voting Rights in1965 reveals the strength of conviction demonstrated by hundreds of Americans seeking basic human rights. Transcending its primary function as a record of the event, it tells the story of the desire for freedom that is the shared heritage of all Americans. It is also a testament to Karales’s ability to capture a timeless image from a fleeting moment—one that still haunts the American conscience.

Here are your questions about James Karales's photographic print. Please view the large reproduction of this print in your classroom or a smaller version of it on the Picturing America website using the "Freedom and Equality" theme in the gallery to locate the image.

[|Picturing America]

1. Study this photograph carefully. What kind of mood does it set? Include two words that describe how the photo makes you feel in your answer. 2.Locate two flags in the photograph. Why does the American flag play a prominent role in this march? 3. Imagine where the photographer placed himself in order to take this picture. Where was he located? 4. How does the background behind the marchers emphasize the message and drama of the scene? 5. How does the photographer suggest that there are many people participating in this march? 6. What do the outstretched legs and thrust-back shoulders of the three leading marchers suggest about their attitude? 7. Notice the legs of the leading marchers. Apparently they are marching together in unison. What might they be doing to keep this same rhythm and beat? 8. Why did the publication of this photograph and others like it in magazines and newspapers help the movement for civil rights in the United States?