ATLANTA — Georgia was at the center of the fight for civil rights and throughout the decades, WSB has been committed to covering the movement.
Born in 1929 in Atlanta, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would go on to become the voice of the movement.
In 1955, he served as the spokesman for the Montgomery bus boycott.
In 1957, he was elected the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
King was one of the driving forces behind the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.
It drew more than a quarter million people to the National Mall.
After the march, in 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, eliminating legalized racial segregation in the United States.
Also in 1964 at just age 35, King became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Another Georgian who was key in the movement was John Lewis.
Lewis and other demonstrators were beaten by Alabama State Troopers on Bloody Sunday in Selma in 1965.
Horrifying images of the violence were broadcast across the country, leading to more support for the movement.
Five months after the violence in Selma, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.
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