Volunteers assist with voter registration in Americus, Georgia, on August 9, 1965. Although blacks held the legal right to vote, racists in the South had discouraged black registration through unfair testing or threats of violence. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 gave the federal government authority over the registration process in six southern states. After 1965, black voter registration rose significantly in the South. In Mississippi, blacks were 7 percent of registered voters in 1965, but 70 percent in 1969. (© AP Images)