John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation commemorates 60th anniversary of first Selma-to-Montgomery March

The John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation unveiled the plaques at an event on March 6, 2025. (Courtesy of The John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation)

Spencer Platt / Getty Images North America

The John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation has unveiled two new plaques to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the first Selma-to-Montgomery March.

On March 7, 1965, also known as “Bloody Sunday,” 25-year-old John Lewis and fellow Civil Rights leader Hosea Williams stood alongside 600 other marchers at the end of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.

After state troopers ordered the group to disperse, marchers were given two minutes to leave. Williams asked to have a word with the state troopers, and shortly thereafter, they were attacked and beaten, including Lewis, who suffered a skull fracture. He was one of almost 60 people treated for injuries at the local hospital, according to the National Archives.