Never Before Seen Video Released Of Selma To Montgomery
Never before seen video of the 1965 Selma To Montgomery Voting Rights March has been discovered. In 2006, The Alabama Department of Archives and History received two truckloads of inventory materials — all created during former Governor George Wallace’s administration. After years of sifting through the boxes, you’re now about to see some incredible video that hasn’t been seen in 50 years. A powerful scene as marchers arrive on Montgomery’s capitol steps on March 25, 1965. It’s just one of the many scenes introduced at the Alabama Department of Archives and History. Filmmakers then were apparently shooting video for Governor Wallace in hope of embarrassing civil rights activists back in 1965. But what the filmmakers didn’t mean to capture was the hope, the sacrifice made from the demonstrators. Video so raw, so real foot soldier, Gwen Patton says it was hard to watch. “It’s emotional, you know, but it also gives you a little more strength, you know motivation to keep pushing on…I’m 72 years old,” Said Patton. But in March of 1965, Patton was 22 years old. She wasn’t the youngest foot soldier there — Sheyann Webb Christburg was eight years old. In fact, she’s in this scene in the front row as Hosea Williams spoke to marchers during the Berlin Wall demonstration just days before marching to the courthouse. “I would always be in the midst. And as I looked at that picture today and saw myself as that little girl. It’s just filled with a lot of emotions,” Said Christburg. Emotions that bring both Webb and Patton right back to March 25, 1965 — listening to Dr. Martin Luther King on the steps of the capitol. Officials with the Department of Archives and History say they’re still sifting through the boxes and it’s taken a lot of time. And there could be more of these videos. They plan to study all the material they find. The whole video is about 90 minutes long. The department of archives also released newly discovered aerial photographs taken by Alabama Air National Guard pilots. Full video: 1) Part 1: Voting Rights Demonstrations By Tuskegee Institute And Alabama State College Students in Montgomery, March 11, 15-17, 1965 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v+fMV-O6OinX8 2) Part 2: Voting Rights Demonstrations in Selma, “The Berlin Wall,” Week of March 7, 1965 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pso-m2_NqYg 3) Part 3: Voting Rights Demonstrations: Selma, March 21, 1965 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI-TaC1MY0Y 4) Part 4: Voting Rights Demonstrations: Marchers Along Highway 80 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eStPRo8hGMw 5) Part 5: Voting Rights Demonstrations: Montgomery, March 25, 1965 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjPnTAVsCyY
Never before seen video of the 1965 Selma To Montgomery Voting Rights March has been discovered. In 2006, The Alabama Department of Archives and History received two truckloads of inventory materials — all created during former Governor George Wallace’s administration. After years of sifting through the boxes, you’re now about to see some incredible video that hasn’t been seen in 50 years. A powerful scene as marchers arrive on Montgomery’s capitol steps on March 25, 1965. It’s just one of the many scenes introduced at the Alabama Department of Archives and History. Filmmakers then were apparently shooting video for Governor Wallace in hope of embarrassing civil rights activists back in 1965. But what the filmmakers didn’t mean to capture was the hope, the sacrifice made from the demonstrators. Video so raw, so real foot soldier, Gwen Patton says it was hard to watch. “It’s emotional, you know, but it also gives you a little more strength, you know motivation to keep pushing on…I’m 72 years old,” Said Patton. But in March of 1965, Patton was 22 years old. She wasn’t the youngest foot soldier there — Sheyann Webb Christburg was eight years old. In fact, she’s in this scene in the front row as Hosea Williams spoke to marchers during the Berlin Wall demonstration just days before marching to the courthouse. “I would always be in the midst. And as I looked at that picture today and saw myself as that little girl. It’s just filled with a lot of emotions,” Said Christburg. Emotions that bring both Webb and Patton right back to March 25, 1965 — listening to Dr. Martin Luther King on the steps of the capitol. Officials with the Department of Archives and History say they’re still sifting through the boxes and it’s taken a lot of time. And there could be more of these videos. They plan to study all the material they find. The whole video is about 90 minutes long. The department of archives also released newly discovered aerial photographs taken by Alabama Air National Guard pilots. Full video: 1) Part 1: Voting Rights Demonstrations By Tuskegee Institute And Alabama State College Students in Montgomery, March 11, 15-17, 1965 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v+fMV-O6OinX8 2) Part 2: Voting Rights Demonstrations in Selma, “The Berlin Wall,” Week of March 7, 1965 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pso-m2_NqYg 3) Part 3: Voting Rights Demonstrations: Selma, March 21, 1965 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI-TaC1MY0Y 4) Part 4: Voting Rights Demonstrations: Marchers Along Highway 80 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eStPRo8hGMw 5) Part 5: Voting Rights Demonstrations: Montgomery, March 25, 1965 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjPnTAVsCyY
