LIFE - Civil Rights: The Vote

http://www.life.com/images/logo.png LIFE - Civil Rights: The Vote http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/22800/civil-rights-the-vote Funeral Notice for Lynch Victims, and a Warning http://www.life.com/image/81615621

A man eyes a funeral notice for four victims of a lynching in Monroe, Ga., in 1946. Underneath is a statement from the federal government threatening prosecution against anyone attempting to prevent a black person from voting.]]> 81615621 Thu, 01 Aug 1946 04:00:00 EDT

Black Americans vote for the first time in Charleston, S.C., during the presidential election, 1948. Though the 15th Amendment forbade barring blacks the vote since 1870, a variety of state laws had effectively disenfranchised many black voters.]]> 81615359 Tue, 02 Nov 1948 02:00:00 EST

Mississippi NAACP branch president Gus Courts shows his wounded arm in 1956. Courts was shot by civil-rights opponents when he refused to remove his name from the local voter-registration list.]]> 83106415 Sun, 01 Jan 1956 03:00:00 EST

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "Give Us the Ballot" address on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1957. Blacks were impatient at the slow progress on civil rights after 1954's Brown v. Board of Education decision.]]> 83827705 Sun, 17 Mar 1957 03:00:00 EST

Demonstraters demand a stronger civil-rights plank outside the GOP convention in 1960 Chicago. Black voters faced literacy tests, public segregation, and other hurdles that often didn't apply to white voters on the way to the ballot box.]]> 50662461 Fri, 01 Jul 1960 03:00:00 EDT

Children watch Martin Luther King Jr. march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 Alabama. The iconic march was a response to Alabama officials trying to prevent blacks from registering to vote.]]> 3321323 Mon, 01 Mar 1965 03:00:00 EST

Four white men watch the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, led by Martin Luther King. The march was considered a turning point in the civil-rights movement. Five months later, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act.]]> 2673047 Mon, 01 Mar 1965 03:00:00 EST

Martin Luther King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, along with 25,000 others, march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital in Montgomery. "The end we seek," King said, "is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its]]> 3348966 Mon, 01 Mar 1965 03:00:00 EST

Alabama police officers watch the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march. "I know you are asking today, 'How long will it take?'" King said. "I come to say to you this afternoon, 'However difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long.'"]]> 3325760 Mon, 01 Mar 1965 03:00:00 EST

President Lyndon B Johnson discusses the Voting Rights Act with Martin Luther King in 1965. The act was a major milestone in civil rights, giving the federal government the power to oversee elections in states where there was disenfranchisement.]]> 2417745 Fri, 01 Jan 1965 03:00:00 EST

President Lyndon Johnson signs the landmark Voting Rights Act in 1965. The act has been renewed regularly by both parties since then, but there's controversy about whether it's fair to target Southern states in the 21st century.]]> 50312558 Fri, 01 Jan 1965 03:00:00 EST

Black voters line up outside the polling station in Peachtree, Ala., in 1966, a year after the Voting Rights Act passed. Dr. King's promise that it would be "not long" before there was a better America for blacks had been (at least partly) fulfilled.]]> 3088626 Sat, 01 Jan 1966 03:00:00 EST