“Alcatraz Closes,” and “March from Selma Begins,” - This Day in History – Mar 21st

California’s Alcatraz Prison closes

Back in 1963, Alcatraz, the famous prison of the San Francisco Bay, which housed criminals such as Al Capone, Robert Stroud, “The Birdman of Alcatraz,” and George Machine Gun Kelly closed it doors forever.  This maximum-security facility also known as “The Rock,” and “America's Devil Island,” housed over 200 inmates during it 56 year run from 1907 to 1963. 

According to history.com, “Alcatraz was first explored by Juan Manuel de Ayala in 1775, who called it Isla de los Alcatraces (Pelicans) because of all the birds that lived there. It was sold in 1849 to the U.S. government. The first lighthouse in California was on Alcatraz. It became a Civil Warfort and then a military prison in 1907.   The end of its prison days did not end the Alcatraz saga. In March 1964, a group of Sioux claimed that the island belonged to them due to a 100-year-old treaty. Their claims were ignored until November 1969 when a group of eighty-nine Native Americans representing the American Indian Movement (AIM) occupied the island. They stayed there until 1971 when AIM was finally forced off the island by federal authorities.  The following year, Alcatraz was added to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It is now open for tourism.” 

Special Note: Numerous movies have been made on the subject matter of this prison.   Examples of this are: “The Rock,” which starred Nicholas Cage and “The Birdman of Alcatraz,” with Burt Lancaster.   Recently, a television series has been created on FoxTV to depict inmates that disappeared back in the 1960’s and have now returned in 2012.  The action-drama show is called, “Alcatraz.”

The Historic March from Selma to Montgomery begins

Back in 1965, voting rights were limited for African-American citizens.  With the help of 3,200 demonstrators, headlined by Civil Rights Activist, Dr. Martin Luther King, the historic walk in Alabama from Selma to Montgomery began. 

Federal agents were place to make sure the participants could finish this march because twice previously Alabama state police had turned away demonstrators who have tied to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. Due to the size of this bridge only 300 demonstrators were permitted to march across this structure.  Additional marchers rejoined this group in at the Alabama Freedom March on March 25^th. A total of 25,000 attended this event.

History.com stated that, “On March 21, U.S. Army troops and federalized Alabama National Guardsmen escorted the marchers across Edmund Pettus Bridge and down Highway 80. When the highway narrowed to two lanes, only 300 marchers were permitted, but thousands more rejoined the Alabama Freedom March as it came into Montgomery on March 25. On the steps of the Alabama State Capitol, King addressed live television cameras and a crowd of 25,000, just a few hundred feet from the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where he got his start as a minister in 1954. That August, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, which guaranteed African Americans the right to vote.  Between the passing of the act and the May 1966 primary, 122,000 blacks registered to vote in the state. This represented a quarter of Alabama's voters.”

All History facts provided from the link below:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/carter-announces-olympic-boycott?catId=9