The
1963 March on Washington is perhaps the most iconic event from the modern civil
rights movement. Almost a half-century
ago, a quarter of a million Americans gathered to show solidarity for African Americans. While images of the March on Washington are
engrained in our collective conscience, few may realize that the event defined
and crystallized the social, political and moral revolution. To commemorate the
event, here are 10 things you may not know about the March on Washington.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
- The
official name of the march was “The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” The goal was to
rally support for President John F. Kennedy's Civil Rights Bill, and call
attention to the economic challenges confronting the African-American community.
- A
March on Washington Movement was first organized in 1941 by A. Phillip Randolph
to address employment discrimination toward African Americans.
Although an actual march did not materialize, Randolph’s threat to protest
on the National Mall during World War II forced President Franklin D. Roosevelt
to issue Executive Order #8802, which prevented discrimination in the national
defense industries.
- The March on Washington in 1963 was organized
by Bayard Rustin, Martin Luther King’s closest advisor, and a gay black man.
- W.E.B.
Du Bois, co-founder of the NAACP, died on the morning of the march, in Accra,
Ghana, at the age of 95.
- The
March on Washington was held exactly eight years after the 1955 lynching of
Emmitt Till.
- Daisy
Bates was the only woman to actually address the crowd at the March on
Washington. Only given 142 words, Bates stated that black
women "pledge that we will join hands … until we are free."
- Two
separate parades were held for male and female civil rights leaders. The men marched down Pennsylvania Avenue. The
women, who included Daisy Bates, Josephine Baker, an
entertainer-turned-activist, and Rosa Parks, marched down Independence Avenue.
- The
most stirring parts of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered on the steps
of the Lincoln Memorial during the march, were improvised. King was inspired by
gospel legend Mahalia Jackson who shouted out from the crowd, “Tell ‘em about
the dream, Martin!”
- Following
the march, male leaders met with President Kennedy, but no women were invited. The group met to
discuss the civil rights bill. It was the first time African-American leaders
had been invited to the White House since 1901, when President Roosevelt dined
with Booker T. Washington.
- King and the other senior civil rights leaders censored
the speech of John Lewis, representing the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. They felt he
took too hard a line against the Kennedy Administration. Here are some of his
omitted words: "In good conscience, we cannot support the administration's
civil-rights bill, for it is too little, and too late. There's not one thing in
the bill that will protect our people from police brutality."
John
Adams, PhD candidate, History Department, Rutgers University
