In this WSB newsfilm clip from August 1965, an unidentified white man addresses the possibility of federal voter registrars in Americus, Georgia. The man explains that since the voting-related racial protests in Americus stemmed from the use of segregated voting lines in a polling place, federal voting registrars, who primarily assist in facilitating voting registration, will not be sent into the town. During a county-held special election for Justice of the Peace in Sumter County, Georgia, on July 20, 1965, four African American women, including the first female African American candidate in the county, were arrested for standing in the "white" line at a polling station. On July 31, federal judge W. A. Bootle ordered the cessation of racially segregated elections as well as the release of the four women. After the 1965 Voting Rights Act was passed, 1,700 African American residents of the county registered to vote within a few days time, nearly doubling the previous total of registered African Americans.

Title supplied by cataloger.

The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for digital conversion and description of the WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection.

1 clip (about 1 min.): black-and-white, sound ; 16 mm.

Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.

WSB-TV newsfilm clip of an unidentified white man speaking of the possibility of federal voting registrars in Americus, Georgia, 1965 August, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 1306, 24:32/25:07, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia.

Forms part of: Civil Rights Digital Library.