HONOLULU -- Photographs of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. adorned with flower lei from Hawaii residents who traveled to Selma, Alabama, to join him on a pivotal Civil Rights march went on public display Tuesday in the state Capitol in Honolulu. The photos, many never before seen by the public, were taken by Civil Rights photographer Matt Herron and donated to Hawaii's Department of Accounting and General Services by his widow for the state's archives.
The Selma-to-Montgomery marches galvanized passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which eliminated most barriers such as poll taxes and other forms of voter discrimination targeting Black Americans in the Deep South. A delegation of five people brought dozens of flower lei with them from Hawaii to Alabama in March 1965, including garlands that were strung by Mothers of Kawaiahaʻo Church in Honolulu using fragrant plumeria plucked from church grounds.
King was photographed wearing lei about two weeks after the event known as Bloody Sunday when state troopers violently attacked Civil Rights marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on March 7, 1965. One of the original lei-bearers was Charles Campbell, a high school teacher and chairman of the Hawaii Civil Rights Conference, who a March 20, 1965 article in The Honolulu Advertiser quoted as saying: 'Selma has the capability of becoming a real sore that could affect the entire nation.'
What the Right Is Saying
Some conservative commentators have noted that the exhibit's timing alongside debates over federal voting legislation raises questions about the proper balance between federal oversight and states' rights in administering elections. While not disputing the historical significance of the Selma marches or the legacy of the Voting Rights Act, these voices argue that constitutional principles of federalism require ongoing dialogue about which voting regulations should be set at the federal level versus the state level.
Tomi Knaefler, who traveled with the 1965 Hawaii delegation as a reporter with the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, was scheduled to attend Tuesday's news conference but could not due to health reasons at age 96. Her daughter Pamela MacDonald attended in her place and noted that her mother held the Selma assignment 'dearest to her heart,' reflecting on how journalists from diverse backgrounds documented the Civil Rights movement for audiences far from Alabama.
What the Left Is Saying
Civil rights advocates and Democratic lawmakers have praised the exhibit as a timely reminder of the ongoing struggle for voting access. The display comes at the end of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2026 term, which included a ruling gutting the remaining piece of the Voting Rights Act, a decision that civil rights organizations say has enabled partisan gerrymandering in Southern states and endangered generations of gains in Black political representation.
Keith Regan, who oversees Hawaii's Department of Accounting and General Services as state comptroller and presided over the photo unveiling as acting governor while Gov. Josh Green is out of state, said the exhibit represents how people from the Aloha State participated in an important event in history. The small delegation traveled thousands of miles 'to be a part of the Civil Rights movement, to show aloha to the world that Hawaii was there holding hands with our fellow brothers and sisters to ensure equality and justice were heard throughout the nation,' he said.
Steven Springel, who viewed a photo of his late mother Nona Ferdon at the unveiling, noted she was a divorced mother of two children and a graduate student when she traveled to Selma in 1965. Springel recalled that growing up in Hawaii, 'we never experienced segregation or racial inequality,' highlighting how residents from a geographically isolated state chose to participate in Southern civil rights battles.
What the Numbers Show
The exhibit features dozens of photographs, most of which have never been publicly displayed before. The Hawaii delegation numbered five people who traveled from Honolulu to Selma in March 1965. The original march route covered approximately 50 miles (80.46 kilometers) between Selma and Montgomery. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibited voting practices that had been used to disenfranchise Black voters, including literacy tests and poll taxes. At the time of passage, voter registration rates for Black Americans in many Southern states remained dramatically below those of white residents.
The Bottom Line
The photo exhibit offers a rare glimpse into previously unpublished documentation of Martin Luther King Jr.'s presence at the Selma marches through the lens of Civil Rights photographer Matt Herron. The images highlight an often-overlooked chapter showing how participants from Hawaii's distinct cultural traditions, including the wearing and presentation of lei garlands, engaged with events that shaped American voting rights history. The exhibit runs through July 7 in Honolulu and is part of Hawaii's programming to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States.