The March on Washington (officially named the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom) occurred on August 28, 1963. It was chiefly organized by Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph. Groups that were involved with the march were Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) (under the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and organizations with religious and labor interests. The organizers of the march agreed to advocate for jobs and freedom. The desire to march was fueled by the violence in Birmingham that occurred earlier that year.
Civil rights leaders met with President Kennedy on June 22, 1963 to discuss the march. He endorsed the march with a few stipulations that included ending the march at the Lincoln Memorial rather than the Capitol so members of Congress did not feel under siege.
There were 250,000 people at the March on Washington. The speakers included Randolph, Rustin, John Lewis, Daisy Lee Bates, Ruby Dee and Martin Luther King, Jr. who gave his “I Have a Dream” speech last.
An interesting podcast about the March on Washington is Bayard Rustin: The Man Behind the March on Washington. The podcast focuses on Rustin who was an important organizer behind the march. The hosts describe his personal life and how he became a civil rights activist. Though he played a critical role in organizing the March on Washington, he did not get the credit that he deserved because he was gay. Bayard Rustin: The Man Behind the March on Washington is a fascinating podcast that you will learn a lot from.
Michael Walsh is an Adult Services Librarian at the Will LIbrary. He is currently reading Tupac Shakur: The Authorized Biography by Staci Robinson.