Misplaced Pages

#693306

37-523: The Dallas County Voters League ( DCVL ) was a local organization in Dallas County, Alabama , which contains the city of Selma , that sought to register black voters during the late 1950s and early 1960s. The organization was founded in the 1920s by Charles J. Adams, a postal service employee and civil rights organizer who was also the local representative of the NAACP . After he moved to Detroit, he

74-590: A march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery, Alabama. Two activists were killed during demonstrations before the final march took place. On March 7, several hundred peaceful marchers were beaten by state troopers and county posse after they passed over the Edmund Pettus Bridge and into the county, intending to march to the state capital of Montgomery . The events were covered by national media. The protesters renewed their walk on March 21, having been joined by thousands of sympathizers from across

111-484: A median income of $ 31,568 versus $ 18,683 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 13,638. About 27.20% of families and 31.10% of the population were below the poverty line , including 40.70% of those under age 18 and 27.60% of those age 65 or over. Dallas County is governed by a five-member county commission, elected from single-member districts . Along with the rest of the Black Belt, Dallas County

148-514: Is also the most flood-prone. Urban sprawl has exacerbated the risk of flooding by increasing the proportion of land covered by hard surfaces, leading to greater runoff during storms. The Black Warrior, Cahaba , and Coosa Rivers and their tributaries are among the many waterways that wind their way through the region. Other major waterways that run through the area include Choccolocco Creek , Shades Creek, and Little Cahaba River. Large deposits of iron ore , limestone , and coal are chief among

185-421: Is land and 15 square miles (39 km ) (1.5%) is water. As of the census of 2020, there were 38,462 people, 15,910 households, and 10,328 families residing in the county. Residents identified by the following ethnicities, according to the 2010 United States census : As of the census of 2000, there were 46,365 people, 17,841 households, and 12,488 families residing in the county. The population density

222-712: Is solidly Democratic. Although African Americans supported the Republican Party during Reconstruction and into the early 20th century, they have supported Democratic candidates since the mid-1960s. No Republican has carried the county since Richard Nixon 's 3,000-county-plus landslide in 1972 . Areas not in Selma are served by Dallas County Schools , while areas in Selma are served by Selma City Schools . 32°19′29″N 87°06′19″W  /  32.32472°N 87.10528°W  / 32.32472; -87.10528 Central Alabama The Valley and Ridge Province of

259-855: Is working on new directions for economic development. From 1963 through 1965, Selma and Dallas County were the sites of a renewed Voting Rights campaign. It was organized by locals of the Dallas County Voters League (DCVL), and joined by activists from Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In late 1964 they invited help from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); with SCLC president Martin Luther King Jr. participating, this campaign attracted national and international news in February and March 1965. They planned

296-612: The Black Belt region of the west-central portion of the state. The name referred to its fertile soil, and the area was largely developed for cotton plantations, worked by numerous enslaved African Americans in the antebellum period. After emancipation following the Civil War, many of the African Americans stayed in the area and worked as sharecroppers and tenant farmers. The county has been majority black since before

333-598: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, legally ending the practice of segregation, they still found difficulty in getting any black voters registered. At the time, only 2.2 percent of African-Americans were registered to vote in Dallas County thanks to the continuous work of the DCVL. In late 1964 they received the help of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference , led by Martin Luther King Jr. In 1965

370-703: The Equal Justice Initiative , which published a report in 2015 that documented nearly 4,000 such lynchings, as well as Selma Center for Nonviolence Truth and Reconciliation at Healing Waters Retreat Center, Selma: Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation, and the Black Belt Community Foundation. According to the United States Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 994 square miles (2,570 km ), of which 979 square miles (2,540 km )

407-636: The White Citizens' Council , and the Ku Klux Klan . In 1962, Frederick D. Reese was elected president of DCVL. Bernard Lafayette , along with his wife Colia Liddel Lafayette , was sent to Selma by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to campaign for the registration of black voters in the area in February 1963. He met the representatives of the DCVL who impressed him so he recommended

SECTION 10

#1732771787694

444-572: The Appalachians consist mainly of long, low ridges such as Red Mountain , Sand Mountain, Beaver Creek Mountain, Shades Mountain , and Coldwater Mountain in this region, and make impressive backdrops in the Greater Birmingham , Gadsden , and Anniston metropolitan areas. The easternmost part of Central Alabama around Anniston has the steepest mountains and highest elevations of the region. Coldwater Mountain and Mount Cheaha make up

481-460: The South. At the turn of the 20th century, the state legislature disenfranchised most blacks and many poor whites through provisions of a new state constitution requiring payment of poll tax and passing a literacy test for voter registration. These largely survived legal challenges and blacks were excluded from the political system. The period from 1877 to 1950 (and especially 1890 through 1930),

518-402: The age of 18 living with them, 40.40% were married couples living together, 25.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.00% were non-families. Nearly 27.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.15. In the county, the population

555-445: The area, and also serve as a demarcation line between the western and the central portions of the region. The central portion of Central Alabama varies from rugged in the east to flat in the west. Numerous valleys are scattered throughout this region between the mountain ridges including the densely populated Jones Valley and Shades Valley. Because the central portion is more rugged compared to the westernmost portion of Central Alabama, it

592-768: The area. Though the Mercedes-Benz and Honda automotive production facilities are not technically located in any of the Greater Birmingham metropolitan counties, they are both considered as substantial contributors to its economy. Tuscaloosa is the retail business center of a several-county area in Alabama and nearby Mississippi, and is chiefly a university town. The city hosts the University of Alabama 's main campus as well as Stillman College and Shelton State Community College . Other major components of

629-517: The country and gained federal protection, to complete the Selma to Montgomery marches . More people joined them, so that some 25,000 people entered Montgomery on the last day of the march. In August of that year, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 , which was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson . Millions of African-American citizens across the South have registered and voted in

666-445: The county courthouse and were beaten back each time. Since previous attempts to register had been made largely by blue-collar workers and students, this marked the first attempt in Dallas County by local educated blacks to register in large numbers. The first march from Selma to Montgomery was attempted on March 7, 1965. Bloody Sunday was initiated by SCLC member James Bevel , and organized by Bevel, Amelia Boynton, and others. When

703-551: The early and mid-20th century, a total of 6.5 million blacks left the South in the Great Migration to escape these oppressive conditions. In the postwar era of the 1950s and 1960s, African Americans, including many veterans, mounted new efforts across the South to be able to exercise their constitutional right as citizens to register and vote. The still mostly rural county reached a peak of population in 1960. Younger people have since left to seek work elsewhere. The county

740-442: The economy include government, health, and industry. The city's largest industrial employer is the Mercedes-Benz production facility located ten miles from the main part of the city next to Vance . Anniston and Gadsden are very similar in their heavily industrialized economies. Gadsden, however, is a river town so it has helped in building and creating a tourist industry to slight the blow of its declining primary industry. Gadsden

777-463: The highest of the mountain ridges that are located in the eastern portion of the region. The Coosa River divides the easternmost portion of the region from the central portion with the Birmingham area. The westernmost portion of Central Alabama is relatively a flat region with fertile black soil called the Black Belt . The Black Warrior River and its tributaries contribute to the fertile land of

SECTION 20

#1732771787694

814-451: The marchers crossed the bridge they were attacked by deputies of the county sheriff Jim Clark and Alabama State Troopers, and Amelia Boynton was beaten and left unconscious in the street. The picture of her unconscious figure was widely publicized and helped fuel outrage at the treatment of the marchers. Other members of the DCVL were Annie Lee Cooper , Louis Lloyd Anderson (pastor of Tabernacle Church), and J. L. Chestnut . Gildersleeve

851-470: The organization to be funded. In July 1963, demonstrations and sit-ins were being coordinated by the SNCC and the DCVL. On October 7, 1963, one of two days during the month when residents were allowed to go to the courthouse to apply to register to vote, the SNCC and the DCVL mobilized more than 300 blacks from Dallas County to line up at the voter registration office in what was called a "Freedom Day". Even when

888-453: The organization worked in collaboration with the SNCC and the SCLC to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches . After SCLC and King launched the 1965 Selma Voting Rights Campaign on January 2, 1965, schoolteacher Frederick Reese, also president of the DCVL, convinced his fellow teachers to join an attempt to register to vote in mass. They made three attempts on January 22 to climb the steps of

925-588: The plentiful mineral resources found in the region. The coincidence of these three in close proximity was a major incentive for the rapid development of industry in the Birmingham District after the American Civil War . The economic engine of the region ranges from the diversified economy of Greater Birmingham, to the college town of Tuscaloosa, to the heavily industrialized economy of Anniston and Gadsden. The primary economic center of

962-649: The region is Greater Birmingham because of its size and diversified economy. It is home to the state's most diversified employer, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). UAB is not only the state's largest single employer with some 20,000 employees on its payroll, but also one of the largest medical districts in the Southeast. In addition, most of the state-based corporations such as Alabama Power , Energen Corporation , HealthSouth Corporation , Regions Financial Corporation , Saks Incorporated , and Southern Research Institute have their world headquarters located in

999-412: The subsequent years, participating again in the political system. On March 5, 2018, Selma commemorated these marches. In addition, the city conducted a Community Remembrance Project, unveiling a new historic marker to memorialize the 19 African Americans who were lynched in Dallas County by whites during the late 19th and up to mid-20th century in acts of racial terrorism. This was done in cooperation with

1036-485: The war. Dallas County produced more cotton by 1860 than any other county in the state, requiring a large supply of workers, who were mostly enslaved. Dallas County slave owners on average had seventeen enslaved workers (compared to ten in Montgomery County, for instance); slave owners made up some 16% of the county's white population, but if their families are added, at least a third of the county's population

1073-507: Was 47 people per square mile (18 people/km ). There were 20,450 housing units at an average density of 21 units per square mile (8.1 units/km ). The racial makeup of the county was 63.26% Black or African American , 35.58% White , 0.11% Native American , 0.35% Asian , 0.01% Pacific Islander , 0.14% from other races , and 0.55% from two or more races. 0.63% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 17,841 households, out of which 33.50% had children under

1110-521: Was also the president of DCVL. Dallas County, Alabama Dallas County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Alabama . As of the 2020 census , its population was 38,462. The county seat is Selma . Its name is in honor of United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander J. Dallas , who served from 1814 to 1816. Dallas County comprises the Selma, AL Micropolitan Statistical Area . Dallas County

1147-436: Was at Cahaba , which also served as the state capital for a brief period. In 1865, the county seat was transferred to Selma, Alabama as the center of population had moved. Other towns and communities in the still mostly rural county include Marion Junction, Sardis, Orrville, Valley Grande, and Minter. Cotton production suffered in the early 20th century due to infestation of boll weevil , which invaded cotton areas throughout

Dallas County Voters League - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-670: Was attached to a slaveholding family, according to historian Alston Fitts. Well-known local slaveowners include Washington Smith, owner of a big plantation in Bogue Chitto, Alabama , near Selma, and founder of the Bank of Selma. After Emancipation he continued to exert great influence over the African-American people in the county. Shortly before the war, Smith had bought a West African girl, Redoshi , one of an illegal shipment of slaves in 1860. He called her Sally Smith. She

1221-583: Was created by the Alabama territorial legislature on February 9, 1818, from Montgomery County . This was a portion of the Creek cession of lands to the US government of August 9, 1814. The Creek were known as one of the Five Civilized Tribes of the Southeast. The county was named for U.S. Treasury Secretary Alexander J. Dallas of Pennsylvania . Dallas County is located in what has become known as

1258-582: Was from Benin , kidnapped at age 12 and one of numerous African captives transported on the Clotilda to Mobile, Alabama , more than 50 years after the slave trade had been abolished. The county is traversed by the Alabama River , flowing from northeast to southwest across the county. It is bordered by Perry, Chilton, Autauga, Lowndes, Wilcox, and Marengo counties. Originally, the Dallas county seat

1295-475: Was replaced by Sam Boynton, the husband of Amelia Boynton . The DCVL was later revived by an eight-member steering committee, known as the "Courageous Eight,": Amelia Boynton, Ulysses S. Blackmon , James E. Gildersleeve , Frederick D. Reese , Rev. John D. Hunter, Rev. Henry Shannon , Earnest Doyle , and Marie Foster . These members tried to register black citizens during the late 1950s and early 1960s but their efforts were blocked by state and local officials,

1332-419: Was spread out, with 28.60% under the age of 18, 9.40% from 18 to 24, 26.20% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 13.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.80 males. The median income for a household in the county was $ 23,370, and the median income for a family was $ 29,906. Males had

1369-478: Was the height of lynchings across the South, as whites worked to impose white supremacy and Jim Crow . According to the third edition of Lynching in America , Dallas County had 19 lynchings in this period, the second-highest number of any county in the state after Jefferson County. The lynching mobs killed suspects of alleged crimes, but also for behavior that offended a white man, and for labor organizing. In

#693306