August 28th · 1963 · Society & Movements
I Have a Dream: The March on Washington
On 28 August 1963, some 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his 'I Have a Dream' speech.
It was billed as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and it brought a quarter of a million people to the capital on a single August day. By its end, one speech had given the American civil rights movement its most enduring words.
The largest demonstration the capital had seen
On 28 August 1963, roughly 250,000 people — Black and white — gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. [1] The march was organized by a coalition of civil rights, labor, and religious groups to press for federal civil rights legislation, an end to segregation in public schools, and protection against employment discrimination. Despite official fears of unrest, the day was overwhelmingly peaceful.
”I have a dream”
The final speaker was Martin Luther King Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Departing from his prepared text, King launched into the extemporized refrain that would define him: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” [2] The speech, carried live on television, became one of the most celebrated pieces of American oratory.
Pressure into law
The march helped build the political momentum behind landmark legislation. The Civil Rights Act, which outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, was signed into law the following year, in 1964; the Voting Rights Act followed in 1965. [1]
A template for protest
The March on Washington demonstrated that mass nonviolent demonstration could shift national opinion and policy. It became a model for later movements and cemented the Lincoln Memorial as a symbolic stage for American appeals to conscience.