Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement -- Flyers From the Selma Voting Rights Campaign

Example Flyers From the Selma Voting Rights Campaign

As in any mass movement, leaflets and flyers played an important communications role in the Selma Voting Rights Campaign. Some of the general-information leaflets were mass-printed and handed out by activists on the streets and door-to-door over time. Flyers regarding current events were usually run off on a mimeograph machine and distributed by children running through the Black neighborhoods.

[From the collection of Bruce Hartford]

Dr. King and Rev Ralph Abernathy Are Here! Flyer.
As a security precaution to prevent KKK snipers and bomb attacks, the dates and locations of appearances by Movement notables such as Dr. King, Malcom X, John Lewis, and Jim Forman were not announced in advance. A few hours before the event, children ran through the Black neighborhoods distributing hastily mimeographed flyers like this one.

Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired Flyer

[From the collection of Bruce Hartford]

The Price of Murder Has Gone Up Flyer
As with freedom movements in other Southern cities, mass meetings were the heart and soul of the Selma Movement. This flyer was distributed in response to the murder of Jimmy Lee Jackson in Marion (Perry County) or Rev. Reeb in Selma.
[From the collection of Bruce Hartford]

Schools Out! Playing Hookey For Freedom Flyer
This flyer was distributed by the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) to encourage students to join the Selma to Montgomery march when it arrived in Montgomery.

Don't Buy Discrimination $ Flyer
Most Movement campaigns included boycotts of downtown white merchants because of their support for segregation and racist hiring practices. In Selma, the stores in the Black shopping district were owned by whites who refused to hire Blacks for any job other than janitor.
[From the collection of Bruce Hartford]

As Long as We Can't Register to Vote
We Shouldn't Buy Flyer
Under Alabama law in the 1960s, it was a crime to boycott a store or business. So anyone caught handing out this leaflet was immediately arrested.

Urgent! Ward Meeting Tomorrow
The city of Selma was organized into wards for the purpose of municiple elections. The DCVL, SNCC, and SCLC organized ward committees for each one.
[From the collection of Bruce Hartford]

Freedom Day Flyer
In most rural counties of the deep south prior to passage of the Voting Rights Act, the courthouse was only open for voter registration one or two days per month. A "Freedom Day" was a Movement mobilization of Blacks to defy centuries of oppression by going to the courthouse on that registration day as a group. Anyone who participated in a Freedom Day, risked being arrested, beaten, fired, evicted from their home, or possibly murdered.
On this flyer: SCLC stands for Southern Christian Leadership Conference, DCVL is Dallas County Voters League (the Selma Movement coalition), and SNCC is the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

	Dr. King and Rev Ralph Abernathy Are Here! Flyer. As a security precaution to prevent KKK snipers and bomb attacks, the dates and locations of appearances by Movement notables such as Dr. King, Malcom X, John Lewis, and Jim Forman were not announced in advance. A few hours before the event, children ran through the Black neighborhoods distributing hastily mimeographed flyers like this one.

Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired Flyer


The Price of Murder Has Gone Up Flyer As with freedom movements in other Southern cities, mass meetings were the heart and soul of the Selma Movement. This flyer was distributed in response to the murder of Jimmy Lee Jackson in Marion (Perry County) or Rev. Reeb in Selma.

	Schools Out! Playing Hookey For Freedom Flyer This flyer was distributed by the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) to encourage students to join the Selma to Montgomery march when it arrived in Montgomery.

Don't Buy Discrimination $ Flyer Most Movement campaigns included boycotts of downtown white merchants because of their support for segregation and racist hiring practices. In Selma, the stores in the Black shopping district were owned by whites who refused to hire Blacks for any job other than janitor.

	As Long as We Can't Register to Vote We Shouldn't Buy Flyer Under Alabama law in the 1960s, it was a crime to boycott a store or business. So anyone caught handing out this leaflet was immediately arrested.

Urgent! Ward Meeting Tomorrow The city of Selma was organized into wards for the purpose of municiple elections. The DCVL, SNCC, and SCLC organized ward committees for each one.
	Freedom Day Flyer In most rural counties of the deep south prior to passage of the Voting Rights Act, the courthouse was only open for voter registration one or two days per month. A "Freedom Day" was a Movement mobilization of Blacks to defy centuries of oppression by going to the courthouse on that registration day as a group. Anyone who participated in a Freedom Day, risked being arrested, beaten, fired, evicted from their home, or possibly murdered. On this flyer: SCLC stands for Southern Christian Leadership Conference, DCVL is Dallas County Voters League (the Selma Movement coalition), and SNCC is the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.