Marion in Perry County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
Jimmie Lee Jackson / Jackson's Death Led to 'Bloody Sunday' March
Photographed By Mark Hilton, April 28, 2018
1. Jimmie Lee Jackson Marker (front)
Inscription.
Jimmie Lee Jackson, also, Jackson's Death Led to 'Bloody Sunday' March. .
Jimmie Lee Jackson Voting Rights Martyr. The death of Jimmie Lee Jackson, shot after police disrupted a peaceful nighttime demonstration in Marion, inspired the first attempted march from Selma to Montgomery that led to passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. , Jackson, a 26-year-old black Army veteran, church deacon and hospital employee, had been active in efforts to register black voters. He himself had been denied five times., On Feb. 18, 1965, police arrested voting rights organizer James Orange. That night Albert Turner and the Rev. James Dobynes led several hundred protesters two abreast out of Zion Methodist Church towards the jail a block away. The streetlights went out. Scores of local white police, along with sheriff's deputies and state troopers under the direction of Col. Al Lingo, attacked marchers and news reporters.
Jackson's Death Led to 'Bloody Sunday' March. A group of protesters pursued by troopers ran behind Zion church into Mack's Cafe. Cager Lee, 82, was clubbed to the floor, along with daughter Viola Jackson, whose son Jimmie Lee was shot in the stomach while trying to help. He died eight days later. Strategist James Bevel suggested a procession to Montgomery to confront Gov. George Wallace. , Some 600 marchers were routed by club-swinging lawmen at the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, Bloody Sunday.' An attempt on March 9 was cancelled. On March 21, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led several thousand marchers to Montgomery. They reached the State Capitol in four days, their numbers swollen to 25,000. , In 2005, retired trooper James Bonard Fowler told the Anniston Star that he shot Jackson. In 2010, District Attorney Michael Jackson obtained a guilty plea to manslaughter from Fowler, then 77. Fowler served five months before being released for health reasons. Jimmie Lee Jackson's tragic story was featured in the 2015 film Selma.,
This marker unveiled in August, 2015, the 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Jimmie Lee Jackson
Voting Rights Martyr
The death of Jimmie Lee Jackson, shot after police disrupted a peaceful nighttime demonstration in Marion, inspired the first attempted march from Selma to Montgomery that led to passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Jackson, a 26-year-old black Army veteran, church deacon and hospital employee, had been active in efforts to register black voters. He himself had been denied five times.
On Feb. 18, 1965, police arrested voting rights organizer James Orange. That night Albert Turner and the Rev. James Dobynes led several hundred protesters two abreast out of Zion Methodist Church towards the jail a block away. The streetlights went out. Scores of local white police, along with sheriff's deputies and state troopers under the direction of Col. Al Lingo, attacked marchers and news reporters.
Jackson's Death Led to 'Bloody Sunday' March
A group of protesters pursued by troopers ran behind Zion church into Mack's Cafe. Cager Lee, 82, was clubbed to the floor, along with daughter Viola Jackson, whose son Jimmie Lee was shot in the stomach while trying to help. He died eight days later. Strategist James Bevel suggested a procession to Montgomery to confront
Gov. George Wallace.
Some 600 marchers
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were routed by club-swinging lawmen at the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, Bloody Sunday.' An attempt on March 9 was cancelled. On March 21, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led several thousand marchers to Montgomery. They reached the State Capitol in four days, their numbers swollen to 25,000.
In 2005, retired trooper James Bonard Fowler told the Anniston Star that he shot Jackson. In 2010, District Attorney Michael Jackson obtained a guilty plea to manslaughter from Fowler, then 77. Fowler served five months before being released for health reasons. Jimmie Lee Jackson's tragic story was featured in the 2015 film Selma.
This marker unveiled in August, 2015,
the 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Erected 2015.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights. A significant historical month for this entry is August 2015.
Location. 32° 37.959′ N, 87° 19.088′ W. Marker is in Marion, Alabama, in Perry County. Marker is at the intersection of Pickens Street and Jackson Street, on the right when traveling south on Pickens Street. Located on the grounds of the Perry County Courthouse. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 301 Pickens St, Marion AL 36756, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of
Photographed By Mark Hilton, April 28, 2018
2. Jackson's Death Led to 'Bloody Sunday' March Marker (rear)
4. View of marker at intersection of Pickens and Jackson Streets.
Credits. This page was last revised on March 8, 2024. It was originally submitted on April 28, 2018, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 882 times since then and 176 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on April 28, 2018, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
