US Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division: Voting Rights Act 1965
Read the amendments to the Voting Rights Act made in 2006. The Congress revisited the original act to assess the progress and what still needed to be addressed.
The Dirksen Congressional Center
Congress Link: Voting Rights Act of 1965
Explores the Voting Rights Act of 1965 from the perspective of a Congressional leader. Presents an abundant amount of historical information about the origins of the Act as well as the steps needed to get it passed.
US Government Publishing Office
Ben's Guide to u.s. Government: Learning Adventures: The History and Process of Voting
Learning adventures teaches students of all ages about the voting process and the history of voting, citing the 15th and 19th Amendments, Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 26th Amendment. Links to the National Archives and voter...
US National Archives
National Archives: Congress Protects the Right to Vote
Students will draw conclusions regarding actions taken by Congress when passing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. They will weigh the balance of power between the federal and state governments when protecting the right to vote. Materials...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: Voting Then, Voting Now
This site explores the voting experiences for African Americans beginning in the Jim Crow era. It shares literacy tests African Americans had to take and other challenges they were given for the right to vote. This denial of the right to...
US National Archives
National Archives: To What Extent Was Reconstruction a Revolution? (Part 2)
This is a continuation of part 1 of the lesson plan "To What Extent was Reconstruction a Revolution?". Students will study the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to see if their opinion changes from the previous lesson plan. Included are whole...
Other
Center for Voting and Democracy Glossary
Brief and informative description of the Voting Act of 1965, as well as other definitions related to equal opportunity in voting.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: Securing the Right to Vote: Selma to Montgomery Story
[Free Registration/Login Required] Lesson plan asking this essential question: "What conditions created a need for a protest march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 and what did that march achieve?"
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: The First March From Selma
This article details a key event in the civil rights struggle--the demonstration organized by the Rev. Martin Luther King in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965, when 525 people met a police blockade on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Black Past
Black Past: Wilkins, Roy
This encyclopedia entry recounts briefly the life of Roy Wilkins, a very influential civil rights leader.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Selma March
The Selma Freedom March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama took place in March 1965 as part of the voting rights movement.
Digital History
Digital History: The Tumultous 1960's
The decade of the 1960s was a time of protest about the Vietnam War and civil rights, and progressive legislation addressing many problems. Find primary source material, charts, and statistics that cover these topics. Included are...