sentences:  Following passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, activists had made progress in registering black voters in the city.African Americans in Tuskegee and other Alabama cities had been largely disenfranchised after passage of a new state constitution in 1901, which had requirements that were discriminatory in practice, such as poll tax and literacy tests.In 1957 the 400 registered black voters nearly equaled white voters; a total of 1000 voters were registered.