Photo by Rowland Scherman - Public Domain
March on Washington 1963
March on Washington - leaders of the march leading marchers down the street: Roy Wilkins, A. Philip Randolph, and Walter P. Reuther
On a hot summer day 60 years ago, on Aug. 28, 1963, many Milwaukeeans were among the more than 200,000 people who gathered in the nation’s capital for the historic Great March on Washington. They were Black and they were white and they came from everywhere to be in the right place at the right time.
They were men, women and children who proudly converged at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial to demand an end to racism. It was a once-in-a-lifetime tribute to the sacrifices, hopes and dreams of America’s racial minorities in general, and Black people in particular.
Their pride was understandable because the “Movement”—as it was known—had come full-flower. It was there for all the world to see on a sweltering day still living in the annals of human rights. Indeed, its memory will never die.
If ever an event was made for national television, it was this. It was full of sights and sounds that few Americans of that time will ever forget. The assembly of humankind surrounding the reflecting pool near the Washington Monument was awesome to behold. And their marching and waiting was not to be in vain.
Heart Stopping Oratory
Photo by Rowland Scherman - Public Domain
Martin Luther King "I Have a Dream" speech
Dr. Martin Luther King giving his "I Have a Dream" speech during the March on Washington.
They were rewarded by the exhilarating gospel vocals of Mahalia Jackson; speeches by Walter Reuther, president of the United Auto Workers; Roy Wilkins, executive secretary of the NAACP; Whitney Young, executive secretary of the National Urban League, March organizer-activist Bayard Rustin and, finally, the heart-stopping oratory of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Among notable Milwaukeeans who took buses to the nation’s capital were businessman Theodore Mack, chairman of the Milwaukee March on Washington; Milwaukee NAACP president, Edward Smyth; Wisconsin NAACP president, Lloyd Barbee; Milwaukee Ald. Vel R. Phillips; president of the Negro American Labor Council, Calvin Sherard; and a number of ministers and others from all walks of life.
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National celebrities, big-name activists, politicians and religious leaders were everywhere, as well. Included were: Rev. Ralph David Abernathy, Harry Belafonte, Marlon Brando, Jim Brown, Wilt Chamberlain, Sammy Davis Jr., Ruby Dee, Anthony Franciosa, Charlton Heston, Sen. Hubert Humphrey, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Burt Lancaster, Peter, Paul and Mary, Anthony Quinn, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and Rev. Andrew Young.
President John F. Kennedy watched on TV in the White House, along with his brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. That night, the President met with national leaders of the march.
Of course, what most Americans recall best about that stiflingly hot day are the stirring words of Dr. King—introduced to thundering applause by co-March organizer, A. Phillip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. To wit:
“At this time, I have the pleasure to present to you, the moral leader of our nation. A great, dedicated man. The Rev. Martin Luther King. J.R.”
As Dr. King delivered his memorable, one-for-the-ages “I have a dream” speech, it was the first time many experienced his spell-binding oratory. During which he powerfully intoned:
“I have a dream today…Let freedom ring…Free at last, free at last. Thank God almighty, we’re free at last.” And the effect was electric.
Unforgettable Voice
The next day, New York Times columnist James (Scotty) Reston—referring to the City of Washington—wrote: “It will be a long time before it forgets the melodious and melancholy voice of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., crying out his dreams to the multitude.”
Yet, his oft-quoted speech did not occupy center stage in many other high-profile news accounts. For example, clueless Kay Gardella, of the New York Daily News, described Dr. King’s oratory “as the most moving for viewers on live television, but without a doubt, the greatest and most persuasive participant on the home screen was a towering figure in the civil rights movement, Abraham Lincoln … Most effective and meaningful were the frequent camera pickups of his statue.”
And Dr. King was not the favored son in 1963 that he later became. He had not yet been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize—and would not visit Milwaukee for the first time until the following January. It was then that I was fortunate enough to interview him for the Black weekly Milwaukee Star at the downtown Schroeder Hotel.
Yet, many whites and some Blacks were leery of Dr. King and his selfless work. His passive, non-violent resistance—opposed by more militant Black leaders—befuddled police and other authorities, and spawned unrest in some cities he visited.
In retrospect, the March on Washington was more than an epoch-making speech by someone destined to be remembered as, arguably, the greatest man of the 20th century. It was the culmination of long, arduous, thorough planning by human rights leaders such as Rustin and Randolph.
Sponsored by 10 national organizations—including the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, NAACP and Urban League—the trouble-free event was punctuated throughout the day by choruses of “We Shall Overcome” and chants of “Pass it, Pass it” referring to JFK’s civil rights program then before Congress.
Sadly, on April 4, 1968, Dr. King was murdered in Memphis by a racist assassin. And 60 years after the March on Washington, the dream of which he spoke so eloquently that day, has yet to be fully realized. Indeed, the King was dead. Long live the King.
