Today marks the 61st anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. Signed into law on August 6, 1965, it outlawed literacy tests, poll taxes in federal elections, and other obstacles to voting. The Act led to dramatic increases in Black voter registration.
ALT Black-and-white photograph of African Americans of all ages holding signs encouraging people to vote with a credit line at the bottom that reads 'Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Frances Albrier Collection.'