March on Washington Handbill
- Description
- The March on Washington, August 28, 1963, was the largest civil rights demonstration the nation had ever witnessed. One hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation, 250,000 Americans of all races gathered to petition the government to pass meaningful civil rights legislation and enforce existing laws establishing racial equality. The March for Jobs and Freedom was conceived by A. Philip Randolph, leader of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, coordinated by Bayard Rustin, and supported by almost all the major civil rights organizations and many labor unions and religious organizations. Its speakers included Randolph, John Lewis, James Farmer, Walter Reuther, and Martin Luther King Jr., whose "I Have a Dream" speech invoked the hopes of all Americans seeking racial justice.
- This handbill was donated in 1964 by Rev. Walter Fauntroy, a principle organizer and chairman of the Washington, D.C., coordinating committee. It is one of many items in the Museum's civil rights collection that helps document and preserve this pivotal event in American history.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- handbill
- Date made
- 1963
- associated date
- 1963 08 28
- speaker
- King, Jr., Martin Luther
- organizer
- Randolph, A. Philip
- coordinator
- Rustin, Bayard
- speaker
- Lewis, John
- Farmer, James
- Reuther, Walter
- organizer
- Fauntroy, Walter
- related organization
- Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
- Physical Description
- paper (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 8 1/2 in x 5 1/2 in; 21.59 cm x 13.97 cm
- Place Made
- United States: District of Columbia, Washington
- associated place
- United States: District of Columbia, Washington
- ID Number
- PL*251855.04a
- catalog number
- 251855.04a
- accession number
- 251855
- subject
- Government, Politics, and Reform
- African American
- Civil Rights Movement
- event
- March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
- See more items in
- Political History: Political History, Reform Movements Collection
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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