March on Washington

Title:
March on Washington
Years:
1963
Description:
On August 28, 1963, a quarter of a million Americans from across the United States converged on the nation's capitol in what was to become a defining moment in the Civil Rights movement. Plans for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom began in 1962 when A. Philip Randolph, founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, put forth the idea of a mass gathering on Washington, D.C. to draw attention to the economic plight of the county's African American population. Randolph called upon the nation's leading civil rights organizations to lend their support to the march and persuaded President John F. Kennedy to endorse the demonstration. As plans progressed, Randolph charged noted civil rights activist, Bayard Rustin, with the arduous task of coordinating and directing the logistics for the march. Rustin and his crew of volunteers worked around the clock to make necessary arrangements as word of the upcoming march spread throughout the country, and thousands of anxious supporters prepared to make their descent on the nation's capitol. On August 28, 1963, a crowd of 250,000 people, including nearly 450 members of Congress, gathered at Lincoln Memorial to listen to the day's scheduled performances and speeches. Randolph along with Roy Wilkins, John Lewis and others delivered riveting speeches before Martin Luther King took his place at the podium and delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Even though the March on Washington succeeded in both dramatizing and politicizing the need to secure federal legislation banning segregation and racial discrimination, it would be another year before King's dream was realized with the 1964 passage of the Civil Rights Act.
Archival Collections And Reference Resources:

16 items in 8 collections (expand all)

"Why should we march?" March on Washington fliers

Creator:
March on Washington Movement
Date of Original:
1941
Collection:
African American Odyssey
Contributing Institution:
Library of Congress

March on Washington, August 28, 1963

Date of Original:
1963-08-23
Collection:
African American Odyssey
Contributing Institution:
Library of Congress

Coretta Scott King

Creator:
Uffelman, Minoa D.
Date of Original:
2008-03-12
Collection:
Encyclopedia of Alabama
Contributing Institution:
Encyclopedia of Alabama (Project)

1 Orville Pitts letter, 1965 July 13

Creator:
Milwaukee United School Integration Committee
Date of Original:
1965-07-13
Collection:
March on Milwaukee: Civil Rights History Project
Contributing Institution:
Wisconsin Historical Society

Coretta Scott King (1927-2006)

Creator:
McCarty, Laura
Date of Original:
2006-11-03
Collection:
New Georgia Encyclopedia
Contributing Institution:
New Georgia Encyclopedia (Project)

Freedom Singers

Creator:
Hatfield, Edward A.
Date of Original:
2007-11-02
Collection:
New Georgia Encyclopedia
Contributing Institution:
New Georgia Encyclopedia (Project)

March on Washington

Creator:
Rowe, Abbie
Marion S. Trikosko
Date of Original:
1963
Collection:
New Georgia Encyclopedia
Contributing Institution:
New Georgia Encyclopedia (Project)

March on Washington

Date of Original:
1963
Collection:
New Georgia Encyclopedia
Contributing Institution:
New Georgia Encyclopedia (Project)

Civil rights march on Washington, D.C.

Creator:
Leffler, Warren K.
Date of Original:
1963-08-28
Collection:
Voices of Civil Rights
Contributing Institution:
Library of Congress

Civil rights march on Washington, D.C.

Creator:
Leffler, Warren K.
Date of Original:
1963-08-28
Collection:
Voices of Civil Rights
Contributing Institution:
Library of Congress

Cleveland Robinson, full-length portrait, facing front, standing on second floor balcony of the National Headquarters of the March on Washington in Harlem, with his arm lifted up toward banner announcing the march

Creator:
Fernandez, Orlando
Date of Original:
1963
Collection:
Voices of Civil Rights
Contributing Institution:
Library of Congress

We shall overcome March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963

Creator:
Lo Monaco, Louis
Date of Original:
1963
Collection:
Voices of Civil Rights
Contributing Institution:
Library of Congress

Life magazine, September 6, 1963

Date of Original:
1963-09-06
Collection:
With an Even Hand: Brown vs. Board at Fifty
Contributing Institution:
Library of Congress
Educator Resources:

4 items in 3 collections (expand all)

Excerpts from the March on Washington, part 3

Date of Original:
1941/1964
Collection:
Teachers' Domain Civil Rights Special Collection
Contributing Institution:
WGBH Educational Foundation

March on Washington flyers

Creator:
WGBH Educational Foundation
Date of Original:
1950/1963
Collection:
Teachers' Domain Civil Rights Special Collection
Contributing Institution:
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (Birmingham, Ala.)