In 1963, Dallas County, Alabama — where Selma is the county seat — had 15,000 Black residents of voting age, and fewer than 300 registered Black voters. Working with SNCC and the Northern Student Movement, the US National Student Association (Norman grantee 1961–1964), launched the Selma Literacy Project to address literacy tests applied by white registrars, one of the primary barriers used to deny Black residents the right to vote. Norman was the sole foundation funder of the Selma Literacy Project, joined by two labor unions and a faith-based institution in what was a remarkably small circle of financial supporters. Organizing in Selma built steadily toward Freedom Summer in 1964 — when hundreds of young people came to Mississippi to register Black voters and document the violent resistance — and the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, where civil rights activists brought the struggle of African Americans to national attention.

Media:

• A 1963-1964 report by Northern Student Project, SNCC, and the United States National Student Association: The Selma Literacy Project. Note: this document states that the Aaron E. Norman Fund was one of four funders backing the Selma Literacy Project.
• Southern Poverty Law Center: Jim Crow Literacy Test – Can You Pass?