Martin Luther King Jr. and the March on Washington
Civil Rights and the Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial was built as a tribute to Abraham Lincoln’s belief in freedom for all people regardless of their skin color It became an important site of the civil rights movement In 1939 singer Marian Anderson performed there when she was not allowed to sing at Constitution Hall in Washington DC because she was African American The 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage and 1963 March on Washington were also held at the Lincoln Memorial 6 These people had come to Washington DC from almost every state in the nation They were a mix of cultures ages and religions Some people were African American others were white They were young and old and came from different religious backgrounds All of them had come to take part in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Leading up to the March One hundred years had passed since President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing some African Americans from slavery However
Even taxis in the South were not equal Some taxis were l i s t e d a s W h i t e O n l y in 1963 African Americans were free but not equal In the South they could not eat at the same lunch counters or go to the same schools as white people All across the country they earned less money than whites in the same jobs African Americans were tired of being treated unfairly In the summer of 1963 they fought back with peaceful protests throughout the South They held sit-ins where they sat at lunch counters that usually would not serve them African Americans refused to ride buses where they were forced to sit in the back 7
And they marched with signs asking for equal rights These small acts turned into a movement It was called the civil rights movement Protest was not easy White police attacked the protesters with water hoses and dogs Some protesters were beaten Bombs were thrown at their homes and churches Yet still the protesters pressed on August 28 1963 Earlier on this hot summer day thousands of people had marched through the streets of Washington DC Then they filed into the area in front of the Lincoln Memorial They listened as civil rights leaders gave speeches calling for justice They wanted dignity and equality for people of all races Finally only one speaker was left He was a 34-year-old pastor from Atlanta Georgia Over the last few years he had established himself as a leader of the civil rights movement He had led the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery Alabama and had joined 8
Martin Luther King Jr Martin Luther King Jr was born on January 15 1929 in Atlanta Georgia His father the Reverend Martin Luther King Sr was a pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church King wanted to become a preacher too He studied at Crozer Theological Seminary At age 18 he was ordained a minister King was a good speaker He knew how to move people with his words One of his parishioners said When I hears sic Dr King I see angel’s wings flying round his head 9 sit-ins in Birmingham Alabama For his efforts he was attacked arrested and thrown in jail The crowd had waited all day to hear this one man Martin Luther King Jr made his way to the podium Below him the people cheered and clapped King raised his arm to them in greeting Then he spoke slowly in a deep rich voice I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation he began For the next 16 minutes King spoke of his dream He dreamed of a day when all Americans
