Selma to Montgomery: Pivotal in Civil Rights
Federal Injunction
Though Martin Luther King, Jr. had been active in the voter registration drive in Selma in the weeks prior to the march, he missed the events of Bloody Sunday, having chosen to preach to his congregation in Atlanta that day. Once its horrible outcome became known, however, he returned immediately to Selma, where he issued a call for clergy and citizens from around America to join him in organizing a second march. In order to ensure that this second march would not inspire another outbreak of violence, King sought a court order that would prohibit the police from interfering, but instead the judge issued a restraining order forbidding them from marching at all, until additional hearings could be held. In the photo above, a federal marshal reads the order to King and his supporters.