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Digital Archive Exhibit - Different Perspectives on the March on Washington

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Digital Archive Exhibit - Different Perspectives on the March on Washington

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The March on Washington of 1963 is one of the most recognizable events of the Civil Rights Movement. Generally known among the American public are striking images of thousands of protesters on the National Mall as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream Speech." The broad strokes of the event are remembered, but many salient facts, details, and nuances have been neglected. The March on Washington was not a flash-in-the-pan demonstration, but the result of a long period of intense preparation and organization. The logistics and expectations of the event's organization have been overshadowed in the intervening sixty years since the March occurred. Similarly, many people who helped to bring the March to life have been overshadowed by monumental figures like MLK. This exhibit hopes to illuminate perspectives on the March on Washington that I had not considered until I encountered them via primary sources.

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Official program for the March on Washington

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Official program for the March on Washington

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This is an official program for the March on Washington, detailing who will speak at the March and (on the second page) the specific demands of the protesters. This program shows that the full name of the demonstration was the "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom." Job opportunity access and an end to systemic poverty were both major aspects of the March on Washington. The economic motivation for the March is often forgotten. The motivators of the protesters is often simplified to a vague idea of racial equality. In reality, the protesters had very specific demands in order to confront socioeconomic disparities. The second page, for instance, lists demands such as a livable minimum wage and an end to racial discrimination in housing.

CITATION: Official Program for the March on Washington; 8/28/1963; Subject Files, 1964 - 2011; Collection JFK-164: Post-Administration Records Collection; John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, MA. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/official-program-march-on-washington, October 5, 2023]

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Workers prepare lunches for the March on Washington

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Workers prepare lunches for the March on Washington

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This photo shows food service workers preparing bagged lunches for demonstrators participating in the March. According to the DOCSTeach information on this photo, 80,000 cheese sandwiches were prepared for the event. This photo demonstrates the sort of un-glamorous logistical work undertaken by organizers of the March in order to make it a reality. So much of the March is boiled down to the big moments and events. Often forgotten are these numerous workers who may not have written or delivered great speeches, but whose rather menial and commonplace work helped to build the foundation to make such a massive protest possible.

CITATION:  Photograph 306-SSM-4C-22-10; Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. [Food service crew.]; 8/28/1963; Miscellaneous Subjects, Staff and Stringer Photographs, 1961 - 1974; Records of the U.S. Information Agency, Record Group 306; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/food-service-march-on-washington, October 5, 2023]

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Jackie Robinson with his son at the March on Washington

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Jackie Robinson with his son at the March on Washington

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This photo shows the famous baseball player Jackie Robinson attending the March on Washington with his son, David. Robinson is widely remembered for his accomplishments in sports. His accomplishments as an African American who played in the Major League are well known and rightly celebrated. However, I personally had no idea that Robinson was also a dedicated civil rights activist who used his national profile to assist the cause of civil rights. Robinson is often mentioned in the same historical conversation as civil rights protests and the March on Washington, but it was not until I encountered this photo that I realized that Robinson had an expansive legacy of explicitly political and social activism.

CITATION: Photograph 306-SSM-4C-54-26; Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. [Former National Baseball League player, Jackie Robinson with his son.]; 8/28/1963; Miscellaneous Subjects, Staff and Stringer Photographs, 1961 - 1974; Records of the U.S. Information Agency, Record Group 306; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/jackie-robinson-march-on-washington, October 5, 2023]

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The March on Washington has been so heavily glorified and mythologized within U.S. history that, oftentimes, certain details and points of view from the March are obscured. It is important to remember the specific socioeconomic framing and demands of the March. So too is it important to remember not just the major speakers, but those long-forgotten everyday workers who made the March possible by doing rather menial work. We also must remember that the March was a nexus for several different aspects of the civil rights movements and was a point of convergence for a number of perhaps unexpected yet relevant and prominent individuals.