March on Washington

 

 

 

 By Alex, Grant, and Clay

 

1)

Martin Luther King, Jr. at the end of his "I Have A Dream" speech.

 

 

2)

Most of the 250,000 protesters from the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument.

 

3)

A mixed crowd of protesters shown here during their march from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial.

 

Links to Pictures

 

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2)Where we got this picture

 

3)Where we got this picture

 

 

Why did protesters want to "march on Washington?"

     The protesters fought to gain equal rights for African Americans due to racial injustice. They also were protesting for jobs and freedom and wished to show their enthusiasm for the major civil rights bill that was pending in Congress. Protesters wanted other civil rights legislation to be passed. The police brutality on demonstrators, especially in Birmingham, was brought up during the protesting day. They also wished for a public works program to provide jobs for African Americans. The passage of laws prohibiting segregation while hiring was also brought up. A $2.00 minumum wage and a government with more black politicians in Washington was wanted.

 

 

 

 

 

Sidney Poitier

 

Link to this site

 

Who protested at the Lincoln Memorial?

     Many celebrities appeared at the Washington Monument to protest, including Burt Lancaster, Marlon Brando, Sydney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Joan Baez, Odetta, Mahalia Jackson, and Lena Horne. There were also musical performances by Marian Anderson, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mahalia Jacson, Josh, Peter, Paul, and Mary White. The crowd consisted of 250,000 mixed protesters, almost a third of them white. The protest was covered by all the major television stations, and local bands played occasionally. The footage was sent to Moscow via Telstar, but the Russian government cut it out.

 

 

 

 

John F. Kennedy

 

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What happened during the protest?

     Fliers advertised protesters to go to Washington for a demonstration. More than 2,000 buses, 21 special trains, and 10 chartered airplanes poured into Washington on August 28, 1963. U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy tried to stop the march, but it went ahead anyway. During the protesting day, there were actually fewer arrests in Washington than for a normal day. Eighty thousand cheese sandwiches were made to feed the protesters. Demonstators sang "We Shall Overcome" on the way from the Washington Monument to the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial.  The "Big Six" organizers were James Farmer, of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); Martin Luther King, Jr., of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); John Lewis, of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); A. Philip Randolph, of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; Roy Wilkins, of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); and Whitney Young, Jr., of the National Urban League. Five of the six organizers spoke at the Memorial. John Lewis's speech was the only speech to criticize the Kennedy Administration, saying Kennedy "lacked civil rights enforcement." He was soon forced to rewrite his speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. James Farmer was actually in a Louisiana prison at the time, so he had Floyd McKissick speak for him. Charlton Heston, representing a contigent of artists, read a speech written by James Baldwin. Asa Philip Randolph introduced Martin Luther King, Jr. as "the moral leader of the nation." When King spoke his historic "I Have A Dream" speech, he blew the crowd away and put a wonderful end to the protesting day. A Washington, D.C. police chief later admitted, "We could not handle this number if it were not peaceful." Luckily for them, no violence came, as Washington had feared. Racial hooligans were scarce, and even the rowdy citizens of Washington "kept their heads." The protesters felt that this was just the beginning, not the climax of the civil rights movement.

 

 

 

 

 

Link to this site

 

When did the march occur?

The march occurred on August 28, 1963. Washington made alcohol illegal from August 27 at midnight to August 29 at midnight.

 

Where did the march occcur?

     The march occurred outside the Washington Monument, then the protesters marched past the reflecting pool to the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial. During the day, protesters put their feet in the pool to cool off. This was the largest demonstration Washington, D.C. had ever seen.

 

 Our Flag

 

 

      In our groups eyes, the Confederate battle flag can be viewed both ways, but displaying the flag on state flags and over highways almost symbolizes hate and mocking the Northern attempt to abolish slavery. Some would say it symbolizes herritage if you only display the flag as a small part of a bigger flag, in our opinion, but having the it take up 3/4 of the flag is verging on hate.

     When we were designing our flag, we took the cross like symbol that was the British flag, and around that is the motto, "Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation." The four purple stars represent Georgia as being the fourth state to enter the United States. The cross looking like a wheel shows how Georgia's size has increased considerably since its first start as a colony. In God We Trust is the U.S.'s motto and State of Georgia is asserting that this flag is for Georgia. The one star is a play on the flag that appeared in Charleston when South Carolina had seceeded, honoring our herritage with a not-so-well-known Confederate flag. The green striping lines represent the cotton vines that covered Georgia. The four brown dots represent Georgia's former slaves tilling the fields unvoluntarily.

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography:

 

1. Haskins, James. The March on Washington. 1993.

 

 

2. March on Washington.~(1963,~August~25). New York Times (1857-Current file), p.~E12.~ Retrieved February 11, 2008, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2004)~database. (Document ID:~121482282).

 

3. "The March on Washington, 1963 "We Stood on a Height." The Civil Rights Movement. 7 Feb. 2008  http://www.abbeville.com/ 

4. Bond, Julian. Eyes on the Prize. 1987.

 

 

5. Archer, Jules. They Had a Dream. 1st ed. Vol. 1. 1993. 1-203.

 

 

6. "civil rights movement." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 8 Feb. 2008

 

7. "March on Washington." Infoplease.

© 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease.

18 Feb. 2008 http://www.infoplease.com/spot/marchonwashington.html

 

8. "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 10 Feb 2008, 22:23 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 12 Feb 2008