December 15, 1967

The National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA) filed for a state charter, which it received within a month. Founded by Huntsville dentist John Cashin, the NDPA formed to provide blacks with an alternative to the white-controlled Alabama Democratic Party, which refused to incorporate blacks into its organization. In 1969, the party garnered national attention after winning almost every local election in Greene County, only four years after the passing of the Voting Rights Act. In 1970, the NDPA challenged Gov. George Wallace in the gubernatorial race with Cashin as a candidate, receiving 15 percent of votes compared to Wallace’s 75 percent.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Huntsville dentist and civil rights leader John L. Cashin ran for governor of Alabama in 1970 as the National Democratic Party of Alabama candidate. Cashin led the formation of the party in 1968 and was elected chairman. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Huntsville-Madison County Public Library)

The first page of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. (89th United States Congress, Wikipedia)

The last page of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. (89th United States Congress, Wikipedia)

President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Martin Luther King Jr. at the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. (Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, Wikipedia)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.