H. Res. 562 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
March 1, 2012. 
Whereas in 1965, civil rights advocates participated in three 
marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, marking 
a watershed moment of the civil rights movement; 
Whereas the first march took place on March 7, 1965, during 
which 600 civil rights activists, led by now-Representative 
John Lewis and Reverend Hosea Williams, began a 
march to protest unfair voter registration practices and 
the shooting death of Jimmie Lee Jackson during a voter 
registration drive; 
Whereas marchers progressed only six blocks from the Brown 
Chapel A.M.E. Church to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, 
where many were tear-gassed and beaten; 
Whereas two days later, on March 9, 1965, Reverend Martin 
Luther King, Jr., led a symbolic march of 2,000 people 
to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, all kneeling there to pray; 
Whereas, on March 21, 1965, with protection from the Ala-
bama National Guard, more than 3,000 people set out 
from Selma again led by Rev. King, marching an average 
of 12 miles a day along Route 80 and sleeping in farm 
fields;
•HRES 562 EH 
Whereas that group grew to 25,000 participants by the time 
it reached Montgomery on March 25, 1965, where Rev. 
King delivered one of his most venerated speeches; 
Whereas as a result of this historic three-week period, Con-
gress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, five months 
after the third march, as a recognition of the right of all 
United States citizens to fully participate in the electoral 
process; 
Whereas in 1996, Congress created the 54-mile long Selma- 
to-Montgomery National Historic Trail along the route of 
this third march, starting at the Brown Chapel A.M.E. 
Church in Selma, crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge, 
and ending at the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery; 
Whereas beginning in 1998, Members of Congress have par-
ticipated in an annual civil rights pilgrimage to the 
Selma-to-Montgomery National Historic Trail, to visit 
the historic sites, participate in fellowship, and recognize 
the achievements of the civil rights movement; 
Whereas the Office of the Historian, first established in 
1983, researches, preserves, and interprets the rich insti-
tutional history of the House of Representatives in order 
to share it with Members, staff, and the public, and 
serves as the institutional memory to inspire greater un-
derstanding of the House of Representatives’ central role 
in United States history; 
Whereas Members of the House of Representatives have in-
cluded participants in the historic 1965 marches and in 
the annual pilgrimages thereafter; and 
Whereas the collection of oral memories of march partici-
pants who have served in the House of Representatives, 
and will continue to serve in the House of Representa-
•HRES 562 EH 
tives, is essential to the preservation of the history of the 
institution: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives directs the 
Office of the Historian to compile oral histories from current 
and former Members of the House of Representatives in-
volved in the historic and annual Selma to Montgomery, Ala-
bama, marches, as well as the civil rights movement in gen-
eral, for the purposes of expanding or augmenting the his-
toric record and for public dissemination and education. 
Attest: 
Clerk.