In early 1963 , SNCC organizers Bernard Lafayette and Colia Liddel Lafayette arrived in Selma to begin a voter-registration project in cooperation with the DCVL . In mid-June , Bernard was beaten and almost killed by Klansmen determined to prevent blacks from voting . When the Lafayettes returned to college in the fall , SNCC organizers Prathia Hall and Worth Long carried on the work despite arrests , beatings , and death threats . When 32 black school teachers applied at the county courthouse to register as voters , they were immediately fired by the all-white school board . After the Birmingham church bombing on September 15 , 1963 , which killed four black girls , black students in Selma began sit-ins at local lunch counters to protest segregation ; they were physically attacked and arrested . More than 300 were arrested in two weeks of protests , including SNCC Chairman John Lewis
Birmingham church bombing
16th Street Baptist Church bombing
Selma to Montgomery marches