In the middle of it all was Clark, who today at 83 is hardly apologetic for his role in the resistance to civil rights for blacks.

"Basically, I'd do the same thing today if I had to do it all over again," Clark said this week in a rare interview. "I did what I thought was right to uphold the law."

Although he was a county sheriff, everything happened in the city of Selma where the courthouse was located. Inside, three white male registrars did what they could to keep black residents from voting.

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[ Most people could not articulate why they felt integration was wrong. Only over time are they able to find words for it. Many resisted simply as Clark did, knowing that do otherwise was to ruin all that they had worked for. ]