Dr. and Mrs. Martin L. King Jr. led the way into Montgomery, Alabama, during the 1965 march. Photo credit: Spider Martin. Image credit: Spider Martin, courtesy of Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

In Spider Martin’s hands, a camera is a weapon of discovery, revealing truths long concealed by prejudice and mythology.

– Andrew Young, 1992

This photography exhibit focused on the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, when more than 2,000 people crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., to march for African American voting rights and equality. It was part of the campaign for African American voting rights, equality and social justice. Marches and rallies resulted in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was signed into law on August 6.

But if we will go on with the faith that nonviolence and its power can transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows, we will be able to change all of these conditions.

– Martin Luther King, 1965

Selma to Montgomery was curated and circulated by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. The exhibition was made possible, in part, by the City of Birmingham and contributions to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute’s Corporate Campaign.

Museum curator, Earl Ijames, discusses the exhibit on Fox 50

Tar Heel Talk: September 25th, 2016