 Jackson was inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr., who had come with other Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) staff to nearby Selma, Alabama, to help local activists in their voter registration campaign.Jackson attended meetings several nights a week at Zion's Chapel Methodist Church.On the night of February 18, 1965, about 500 people organized by the SCLC activist C. T. Vivian left Zion United Methodist Church in Marion and attempted a peaceful walk to the Perry County jail, about a half a block away, where young civil-rights worker James Orange was being held.