These historical photos capture the fight for voting rights in the US.

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Posted on Nov 4, 2014

As voters around the country head to the poles today we’re looking at the historical fight it took us to get here. Click the player below to listen to our show on the history of the Voting Rights Act while you scroll through the pictures.

1946 The District of Columbia delegation of the National Association of Colored Women joins delegates from across the country to picket the White House July 30 in response to the murders of four African Americans in Monroe, Georgia by a white mob days before. Courtesy of the D.C. Public Library historic image collection.

Paul Robeson Sings Out Against Lynching: 1946 Paul Robeson, chair of the American Crusade to End Lynching, sings in the pouring rain at a Lincoln Memorial rally September 30, 1946 calling for federal anti-lynching legislation. Courtesy of the D.C. Public Library historic image collection.

Negro Congress Protests Georgia Lynchings: 1946 Hundreds of people march from Union Station to the White House July 29, 1946 to protest the mass lynching of four African Americans in Monroe, Georgia. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Alabama civil rights movement: Selma to Montgomery march, halted at the Edmund Pettus bridge (Tuesday, March 9, 1965). Jack Rabin collection on Alabama civil rights and southern activists, 1941-2004 (bulk 1956-1974)

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee leader John Lewis on the march from Selma to Montgomery.

Alabama civil rights movement: Selma to Montgomery march, halted at the Edmund Pettus bridge.

Alabama civil rights movement: Selma to Montgomery march: Central Baptist church (Monday, March 15, 1965). Jack Rabin collection on Alabama civil rights and southern activists, 1941-2004 (bulk 1956-1974)

Alabama civil rights movement: Selma to Montgomery march, halted at the Edmund Pettus bridge.

Alabama civil rights movement: Selma to Montgomery march: Iakovos, Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America with Martin Luther King, Jr. (Monday, March 15, 1965). Jack Rabin collection on Alabama civil rights and southern activists, 1941-2004 (bulk 1956-1974) ,

Alabama civil rights movement: Selma to Montgomery march (Monday, March 15, 1965). Jack Rabin collection on Alabama civil rights and southern activists, 1941-2004 (bulk 1956-1974).

John Lewis, leader of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, is beaten by a state trooper March 7, 1965, as he attempts to march with 600 others from Selma to Montgomery.

President Lyndon Johnson Signs the Voting Rights Act as Martin Luther King, Jr., with Other Civil Rights Leaders in the Capitol Rotunda, Washington, DC, 08/06/1965.