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The Edmund Pettus Bridge was built in 1940 to connect U.S. Highway 80 from Salem to Montgomery. It was named after Edmund Winston Pettus, a Confederate brigadier general, a US senator and a former grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/efforts-growing-to-rename-edmund-pettus-bridge-for-john-lewis/85-27a1b3a2-244b-4806-b620-ce9dcfde30d4 -
26-year old, Jimmie Lee Jackson was fatally shot by state troopers after trying to protect his mother when police began to beat peaceful protesters in Marion, Alabama. Civil Rights leaders decided to go directly to Governor George Wallace by marching 54 miles from Salem to Montgomery.
https://www.history.com/news/selma-bloody-sunday-attack-civil-rights-movement -
About 600 Civil Rights leaders meet at Brown Chapel AME Church to march the 54 miles from Salem to Montgomery. 6 blocks away from where they started stood the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where state and local law enforcement were waiting for the peaceful protests. They are under orders from the governor "...to use whatever measures are necessary to prevent a march." The protestors did not make it past the bridge. https://www.nps.gov/places/alabama-the-selmatomontgomery-march.htm -
Police began to viciously beat the peaceful protestors, one of which would later become a Georgia Congressman. John Lewis was at the front of the line when the police began to beat the protestors. Lewis almost lost his life on the bridge that day. The entire event was recorded and broadcasted on television. With the horrors of what happened on March 7, 1965 on full display, the American public became outraged. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBCTUmTf4GE -
After the horrors on March 7th, Dr. King led another march to attempt crossing the bridge. They were yet again stopped when the police blocked the road. They were forced to turn back. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/selma-to-montgomery-march-begins -
On Bloody Sunday, John Lewis was beaten by police and was sent to the hospital with a fractured skull. A hearing was held over the events that took place on that bloody Sunday. The link below is from the United States Archives. On the site is the testimony Lewis gave at the hearing. https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/eyewitness/html.php?section=2 -
After two attempts were squashed by police, U.S Army troops and federalized Alabama States Guardsmen were called in to ensure the safety of the protestors. With their arms linked together, they were finally allowed to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/selma-to-montgomery-march-begins -
Just about three months after Bloody Sunday, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. The act has been renewed several times since its signing. https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/blog/on-this-day-the-voting-rights-act-of-1965-is-signed#:~:text=On%20August%206%2C%201965%2C%20President,the%2015th%20Amendment's%201870%20ratification. -
On the 25th Anniversary of the march from Salem to Montgomery, thousands of people gathered to march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/news/politics/2021/03/07/history-edmund-pettus-bridge-started-bloody-sunday/4580682001/ -
On the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday, President Obama held hands with John Lewis and Ameila Boynton, as they walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. President Obama spoke about the events that took place that day, and what they meant to the Civil Rights Movement then and now. Below is a video, and transcript, of that speech. video: youtube.com/watch?v=gvAIvauhQGQ
transcript: https://time.com/3736357/barack-obama-selma-speech-transcript/ -
After over 50 years as a symbol of the Civil Rights Movement, people are asking for the Edmund Pettus Bridge to be renamed. There have been many calls to rename the bridge after the late John Lewis. https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/efforts-growing-to-rename-edmund-pettus-bridge-for-john-lewis/85-27a1b3a2-244b-4806-b620-ce9dcfde30d4
