Aug. 28 will mark the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. On this day in history, King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. These archival images take a look back at civil rights events leading up to the march, moments from that day, and the years after the march.
Photo credits: Religion News Service file photos, Library of Congress and ELCA Archives
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(1956) Three ministers are among these four leaders of the three-month boycott in Montgomery, Ala. protesting segregation on city buses. Twenty-four clergymen would be among those tried on March 19 for allegedly violating the state’s anti-boycott law. Left to right are: The Rev. L.R. Bennett; the Rev. H.H. Hubbard; the Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy; and E.D. Nixon, president of the local NAACP. The boycott was launched in December after Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, was fined $14 for refusing to move to the rear of a bus. Alabama state and local laws require that black riders be segregated in a public conveyance. Protestant church groups in various parts of the country have expressed sympathy with the boycott. Religion News Service file photo
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(1961) These “Freedom Riders” were smiling as they arrived in Montgomery, Ala., by bus, but all were arrested the next day as they sought service at a segregated bus terminal lunch counter before their scheduled departure for Jackson, Miss. From left are John Maguire and David Swift, religion professors at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn.; George B. Smith (head partially visible), law student at Yale University; the Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Jr., Yale chaplain and head of the group; the Rev. Gaylor Noyce, associate professor of the Yale Divinity School; Clyde Carter and Charles Jones, theological students at Johnston C. Smith University, Charlotte, N.C. Religion News Service photo
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(1961) Some of the tear gas from bombs hurled by U.S. marshals at a howling white mob attempting to assault the Negro First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala., blew back into the church, forcing some of the people inside to come out wiping their eyes. All of the people in the church were evacuated after remaining overnight in the church under protection of guardsmen, marshals, state and local police. The second outbreak of rioting in the city finally caused Gov. John Patterson to proclaim martial law. Religion News Service file photo
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(1961) Demonstrators held a prayer meeting in front of the Albany (Ga.) City Hall to appeal for a just verdict for 11 Freedom Riders on trial there. Police form a cordon in the rear to forestall any violence. The demonstrators, whose number sometimes rose to 700, held mass meetings in the Shiloh Baptist Church. At that point, 480 demonstrators had been arrested for their participation in the demonstrations. Religion News Service file photo
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(1963) Barred window of waiting paddy wagon frames demonstrators — some singing, some praying — as an estimated 2,000 marched on the Birmingham jail in a segregation protest on May 5, 1963. Religion News Service file photo
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(1963) A moment of quiet at the edge of a grave followed minutes of terror earlier when a racist’s bomb shattered 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. Friends and relatives gather around Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Robertson Sr., seated at right, and a sister, at left, of 14-year-old Carole Robertson. Carole and three other young girls, attending Sunday school in the church basement, died in the explosion. Religion News Service file photo
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(1963) A truce in Birmingham’s racial strife comes as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and associates call a temporary halt to mass demonstrations and “freedom marches” in the Southern city. King said he believed honest attempts were being made by white business leaders to settle racial differences. With him are the Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth, head of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (second from right), and the Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, King’s chief assistant. Religion News Service file photo
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(1963) In front of 170 W. 130 St. in New York City, March on Washington deputy director Bayard Rustin (left), stands with Cleveland Robinson, chairman of the march’s administrative committee. World Telegram & Sun photo by O. Fernandez – Photo courtesy Library of Congress
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(May 10, 1963) The “Big Three” of the civil rights movement put their heads together here just before releasing a statement that accord had been reached on their grievances. (Left to right) The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.; the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth; the Rev. Ralph Abernathy. Religion News Service file photo
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Photograph shows a crowd of African-Americans and whites on the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963; two men in foreground read a newspaper with the headline: “They’re Pouring In From All Over.” Photo courtesy Library of Congress
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Demonstrators sit, with their feet in the Reflecting Pool, during the 1963 March on Washington. Photo courtesy Library of Congress
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A crowd of African-Americans behind a storm fence with police on the other side during the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. Photo courtesy Library of Congress
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A procession of African-Americans carrying signs for equal rights, integrated schools, decent housing, and an end to bias on Aug. 28, 1963. Photo courtesy Library of Congress
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The American Lutheran Church’s contingent among the Lutheran Human Relations Association of America’s marchers at the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. Pictured are (left to right): The Rev. Robert S. Graetz, Jr., pastor of St. Philip’s, Columbus, Ohio, formerly of Trinity Lutheran, Montgomery, Alabama; the Rev. Robert Dale Lechleitner, associate director of the ALC’s Board of American Missions; the Rev. William A. Poovey, professor at Wartburg Seminary; the Rev. Richard W. Solberg, professor at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D.; and June Solberg. National Lutheran Council photo courtesy ELCA Archives
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Lutheran Human Relations Association of America marchers at March on Washington in August 1963, approaching the Lincoln Memorial. National Lutheran Council photo courtesy ELCA Archives
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Lutheran Human Relations Association of America marchers attending March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963, in front of Luther Memorial Church in Washington, D.C. The Rev. Richard Solberg holds The American Lutheran Church sign, with June Solberg to his left. The Rev. William A. Poovey is wearing a hat and can be seen over Solberg’s left shoulder. National Lutheran Council photo courtesy ELCA Archives
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Augustana Lutheran Church in Washington, D.C., provided food and lodging to any marchers in need. The two boys in this picture are from New York City. They hitchhiked to Washington for the March on Washington in August 1963. National Lutheran Council photo courtesy ELCA Archives
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Lutheran Human Relations Association of America marchers prepare for the March on Washington in August 1963. Lutheran pastors at Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Washington, D.C., select signs to carry during the march. National Lutheran Council photo courtesy ELCA Archives
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March on Washington participants in August 1963 on the steps at Augustana Lutheran Church in Washington, D.C. National Lutheran Council photo courtesy ELCA Archives
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Lutheran Human Relations Association of America marchers prepare for March on Washington on August 28, 1963. Marchers line up outside Mount Olivet Lutheran Church. Marchers include the Rev. Andrew Schultze in front with LHRAA sign on ground. The Rev. Robert D. Lechleitner, associate director of The American Lutheran Church’s Board of American Missions, holds The American Lutheran Church sign to the right. The Rev. William A. Poovey, professor of homiletics at Wartburg Seminary, is just to the left of Lechleitner wearing a hat. Photo courtesy ELCA Archives
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Signs were still being put together just before one Lutheran group massed to march in the civil rights demonstration in the nation’s capital on Aug. 28, 1963. From left to right are: The Rev. Ralph E. Wiechmann, pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Springfield, Va., who was secretary of the all-Lutheran ministerial association of metropolitan Washington; Robert P. Cook, a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Franconia, Va., who was a freshman student at Concordia College in Bronxville, New York; and the Rev. Don Prange, pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Pittsburgh. Photo courtesy ELCA Archives
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Strong bipartisan support will be necessary to push civil rights legislation through Congress, President Kennedy told leaders of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The march chairmen spent an hour with the chief executive following the demonstration that drew over 200,000 people to the capital on Aug. 28, 1963. Shown here, from left, are: Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Floyd B. McKissick, national chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality; Mathew Ahmann, executive director of the National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice; Whitney M. Young Jr., executive director of the National Urban League; the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., founder and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; John Lewis (in rear), chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; Rabbi Joachim Prinz, president of the American Jewish Congress; the Rev. Eugene Carson Blake (in rear), chief executive officer of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and acting chairman of the National Council of Churches’ Commission on Religion and Race; A. Philip Randolph, founder and president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, director of the march; President Kennedy, and Walter P. Reuther, president of the United Automobile Workers Union. Religion News Service file photo
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On Aug. 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed the crowd gathered during the March on Washington, delivering his “I Have a Dream” speech. RNS file photo
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A young usher, holding cap at right, stands solemnly with religious, civil rights and labor leaders on the platform in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the national anthem at the opening of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom program on Aug. 28, 1963. Five of the 10 chairmen of the march also on the platform were, from left to right: Whitney M. Young Jr., executive director of the National Urban League; the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Walter P. Reuther, president of the United Automobile Workers Union; the Rev. Eugene Carson Blake, chief executive officer of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., and acting chairman of the National Council of Churches’ Commission on Religion and Race; and, second from right, Rabbi Joachim Prinz, president of the American Jewish Congress. Religion News Service file photo
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A stirring climax to ceremonies at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was reached when the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., stepped to the rostrum and called on the nation to end racial discrimination “now.” The Baptist minister, head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, was widely hailed as the “civil rights and religious leader” of the event on Aug. 28, 1963. Religion News Service file photo
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(1963) Demonstrators kneeling in prayer during one march on the city jail in Birmingham, Ala. They had been halted by police on their way to protest the jailing of people in previous demonstrations. This march ended peacefully, but other demonstrators were stopped by fire hoses and the unleashing of police dogs. Religion News Service file photo
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(1963) Racial violence in Birmingham, Ala., was protested in Boston by picketers who paraded back and forth in front of the city’s Federal Building. They were led by the Rev. Vernon E. Carter, pastor of All Saints Lutheran Church, a congregation of the Lutheran Church in America. Religion News Service file photo
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(1964) A U.S. Senate vote to launch formal debate on the House-passed Civil Rights Bill was received happily by supporters of the legislation. Victory signs, celebrating rejection of Southern senators’ attempts to delay debate by subjecting the bill to committee hearings are made by (left to right): Sen. Hubert Humphrey, Sen. Philip A. Hart, key legislative leaders; the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth. Religion News Service file photo
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(1964) This photograph was found with a group of photos titled “Civil Rights” and the caption reads, “…deep in my heart, I do believe, that we shall overcome some day…” Religion News Service file photo
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(1964) “More violence on the racial scene in 1964 than Americans have ever witnessed” was predicted in New York by Malcolm X, a militant nationalist who broke with the Black Muslim movement headed by Elijah Muhammad to form his own organization, Muslim Mosque, Inc. Though personally continuing to espouse the teachings of Muhammad, he said, the new group would be politically oriented and would seek support among the nation’s non-Muslim black community and any others willing to follow the black nationalist banner. “White people will be shocked when they discover that the passive little Negro they had known turns out to be a roaring lion.” Religion News Service file photo
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(1965) This aerial view shows a half-mile-long column of civil rights demonstrators – including many clergy – on the first leg of the 50-mile march to Montgomery, the state capital of Alabama, in support of the voter registration drive. The marchers – an estimated 3,500 left Selma – are shown crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where the first scheduled freedom march was broken up by state troopers on March 7. This time, the march was authorized by a federal court and was protected by Army and federalized Alabama National Guard troops. Leading the walk was the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which has been spearheading the long registration effort. Religion News Service file photo
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(1966) The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and other civil rights leaders, are pushed off the road as they resume a voters’ march begun by James Meredith. Later they continued their walk, marching single file along the highway’s shoulder. Meredith was shot in an ambush by a white man as he was marching from Memphis, Tenn., to Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, in an effort to encourage black residents to vote in the state’s primary election. Religious leaders were quick to condemn the shooting and called for greater efforts on behalf of voting rights. Religion News Service file photo
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(1966) Leaders of the civil rights marches protesting housing discrimination in Chicago discuss future strategy with their followers. Albert Raby, heading the effort, announces that plans to march in suburban Chicago have been postponed. With him are other Southern Christian Leadership Conference officials – the Rev. James Bevel (right) and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Religion News Service file photo
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(1966) Among the thousands of whites who stoned and jeers civil rights marchers in Chicago during July and August 1966, were some who urged extreme action. Members of the National States’ Rights Party and the American Nazi Party were active participants in the anti-march protests. Religion News Service file photo
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(1968) The Rev. Ralph Abernathy peers through the barred window of a bus taking him to jail in Washington, D.C. The head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, with some 300 others, was arrested for attempting to demonstrate on the Capitol grounds. His arrest followed ousting of residents from Resurrection City by police. Religion News Service file photo
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(1969) The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was among five persons arrested in a rock-throwing confrontation between demonstrators and police on the University of Illinois Circle Campus in Chicago, uses a police microphone in an attempt to quiet demonstrators. Jackson and four others were arrested when they refused to lead a group of about 600 demonstrators away from a construction site on the campus. They had gone there to press their demands for jobs for black residents at Chicago constuction sites. Religion News Service file photo
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(1970) A white student waits with black students at the formerly all-black Southside Elementary School in West Point, Miss., for the doors to open for second semester registration. Registration proceeded without incident. Religion News Service file photo
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(1971) The Rev. Jesse Jackson, national director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Operation Breadbasket, gives a clenched fist salute from a police van after he and 11 other clergymen were arrested in the building housing the national offices of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company in New York City. Operation Breadbasket was conducting a national campaign against the food chain, which they claim discriminated in the hiring of black employees. A&P denied the charges. Religion News Service file photo
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(1974) Members cry outside a church where the mother of the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., was slain by a gunman in Atlanta. One other person was killed in the fusillade of bullets unleashed by a black man regarded by authorities to be insane. The famed civil rights leader’s mother was slain as she played the organ in the church in which her son and her husband had served as pastors. Religion News Service file photo