The Selma to Montgomery marches were organized by nonviolent activists.
Frederick Douglas Reese , or F. D. Reese , ( born November 28 , 1929 ) is a civil rights activist , educator , and minister from Selma , Alabama . The Selma to Montgomery marches were three protest marches , held in 1965 , along the 54-mile ( 87 km ) highway from Selma , Alabama to the state capital of Montgomery . The marches were organized by nonviolent activists to demonstrate the desire of African-American citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote , in defiance of segregationist repression , and were part of a broader voting rights movement underway in Selma and throughout the American South . Joined by organizers from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ( SNCC ) , they began working that year in a renewed effort to register black voters . The first march took place on March 7 , 1965 , organized locally by Bevel , Amelia Boynton , and others .