March on Washington
The March on Washington, held on August 28, 1963, was a pivotal event in the American civil rights movement, drawing over 200,000 participants advocating for jobs and freedom. Initially proposed by A. Philip Randolph in 1941, the march aimed to address racial injustices and economic inequality but was postponed until the early 1960s due to political concerns. The event united major civil rights organizations, including the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and featured stirring speeches from prominent leaders, most famously Martin Luther King Jr., whose "I Have a Dream" speech remains iconic.
The march was notable for its peaceful execution, largely attributed to careful planning by activist Bayard Rustin. It significantly influenced public support for civil rights and is credited with helping to spur the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. While some contemporaneous critiques arose, including comments from figures like Malcolm X, the event has since been recognized as a landmark moment in American history, inspiring future marches and commemorations, including events marking its anniversaries.
March on Washington
Date: August 28, 1963
One of the most memorable civil rights demonstrations of the 1960s, the March on Washington culminated with Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
Origins and History
The idea of staging a massive march on Washington, DC, to demonstrate for civil rights was first conceived in 1941 by A. Philip Randolph, the head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. However, reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt prompted Randolph to call off this march. In early 1963, Randolph revived the idea, calling for a march for jobs and freedom. Initially, President John F. Kennedy opposed the idea, fearing the march would turn violent. However, after Randolph and other civil rights leaders warned that if those dedicated to nonviolence were not allowed to lead the march, other, more militant activists would (a not-so-thinly veiled allusion to Malcolm X), they won Kennedy’s blessing for the protest. While Randolph was the official director of the march, details of planning for the event were largely handled by fellow activist Bayard Rustin.
The March
The March on Washington took place on a hot and humid August day. All the major civil rights organizations, including the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the National Urban League (NUL), headed the march. They were joined by numerous liberal allies and entertainers.
After gathering near the Washington Monument, more than two hundred thousand people, Black and White, set out for the Lincoln Memorial, brandishing banners demanding voting rights, decent housing and jobs, and an end to segregation. At the Lincoln Memorial, they listened to music performed by Mahalia Jackson and Joan Baez and speeches by clergy members, prominent liberals, and civil rights leaders. Among the most powerful speeches were those by Walter Reuther, the president of the United Automobile Workers union, and John Lewis, the chairman of SNCC. Although Lewis modified his address at the last minute to appease moderates, his speech still stood out for its stridency. However, it was activist Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech that proved most memorable and has lived on as one of the most famous orations in US history. King stirred both those assembled and those listening on radio and television with his description of his “dream” that one day Black children and White children would “walk together as sisters and brothers” and that the nation would “rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed.”
The march took place without any violence, much to the credit of Rustin, who attended to every detail, from the coordinating of speakers to feeding the hungry.
Impact
The march won much public support for the civil rights movement, and is specifically considered to have helped galvanize the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It also drove worldwide admiration for King, and legitimized protest in the nation’s capital. There was some contemporary criticism of the event, however. Malcolm X derided it as the "farce on Washington," while some conservatives proclaimed that communists had organized the demonstration. Nevertheless, over the years it would be widely agreed that King’s speech was a classic and that the march stood as one of the high points of the civil rights movement and the 1960s.
Several further marches would be held to commemorate anniversaries of the March on Washington and carry on its civil rights mission. In 2013, the fiftieth anniversary of the march, Rustin was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. The NAACP organized a Virtual March on Washington (taking into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic) in 2020. A sixtieth anniversary march was held in 2023.
Additional Information
The march and the civil rights movement are examined in various books, including Thomas Gentile’s March on Washington: August 28, 1963 (1983) and Juan Williams’s Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965 (1987). Rustin's largely behind-the-scenes but instrumental role in organizing the march was dramatized in the biopic film Rustin (2023).
Bibliography
"Bayard Rustin." National Park Service, 5 Dec. 2022, www.nps.gov/subjects/civilrights/bayard-rustin.htm. Accessed 19 Oct. 2023.
Gates Jr., Henry Louis. "Who Designed the March on Washington?" The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross, PBS, 2013, www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/100-amazing-facts/who-designed-the-march-on-washington/. Accessed 19 Oct. 2023.
"The Historical Legacy of the March on Washington." National Museum of African American History & Culture, Smithsonian, nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-march-washington. Accessed 20 Oct. 2023.
"The March on Washington." Civil Rights History Project, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/collections/civil-rights-history-project/articles-and-essays/the-march-on-washington/. Accessed 20 Oct. 2023.
"March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom." The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University, kinginstitute.stanford.edu/march-washington-jobs-and-freedom. Accessed 20 Oct. 2023.
"March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom." National Park Service, 17 Apr. 2023, www.nps.gov/articles/march-on-washington.htm. Accessed 20 Oct. 2023.
"The 1963 March on Washington." NAACP, naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/1963-march-washington. Accessed 20 Oct. 2023.