United States House of Representatives: History, Art, & Archives
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1965 Voting Rights Act

Voting Rights of 1965/tiles/non-collection/o/oh_evnt_cr_hr6400_nara.xml House Judiciary Committee Record, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, Center for Legislative Archives, National Archives and Records Administration The Voting Rights Act of 1965
“But he was on the floor and heard a fellow Louisianan get up and give a speech saying that there was no discrimination in the state and that blacks could vote in Louisiana as easily as whites. And he just couldn’t stand it. So he got up and made, really, what many people thought was the best speech of his life, for voting rights. It was quite a moment. Because, of course, that piece of legislation is really the signal piece of legislation in the whole civil rights movement, having more effect, really, than any other piece of legislation.”
—Cokie Roberts, June 23, 2009
   Congressional Correspondent and Daughter of                 Representatives Hale and Lindy Boggs of Louisiana

Video

The Voting Rights Act of 1965

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Detailed account of Louisiana Representative Hale Boggs' decision to speak on behalf of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Cokie Roberts, Congressional Correspondent and Daughter of Representatives Hale and Lindy Boggs of Louisiana
Interview recorded June 23, 2009 – Deed of Gift
Transcript (PDF)

Audio

The VRA Signing Ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda

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Former Page Jeffrey Oshins describes the historic moment when President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.

Jeffrey Oshins, Page, U.S. House of Representatives
Interview recorded September 10, 2013 – Deed of Gift
Transcript (PDF)

Registering the First Black Voters

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Registering African Americans for the first time in the aftermath of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The Honorable William Jackson (Jack) Edwards, U.S. Representative of Alabama
Interview recorded August 23, 2012 – Deed of Gift
Transcript (PDF)
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