Highlights From The Turbulent 1960s Civil Rights Movement

The March on Washington D.C.

On August 28, 1963, civil rights leaders and a quarter of a million people marched in Washington D.C. for “Jobs and Freedom.” The march is most famous for Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. The speech was an impassioned plea to end racism in the United States.

Source: PBS

The march itself had six objectives; fair civil rights laws, a federal works program, fair employment, decent housing, the right to vote and integrated education. The leaders of the march were invited to meet President Kennedy and in the aftermath of this meeting – The President proposed new civil rights legislation. He would be assassinated before it came to pass.