# Canonical recap data for March on Washington for Civil Rights (1963)
# Source: https://recap.at/1963/march-washington-civil-rights
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: march-washington-civil-rights
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1963/march-washington-civil-rights"
title: March on Washington for Civil Rights
aliases:
- March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
- The Great March on Washington
- 1963 March on Washington
- Lincoln Memorial March
subtitle: MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech before 250,000 marchers became the moral center of the American civil rights movement.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1963-08-28
datePrecision: day
year: 1963
decade: 1960
country:
name: United States
slug: united-states
summaryShort: The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rights of African Americans. At the march, several popular singers of the time, including Mahalia Jackson and Marian Anderson, performed and many of the move
summaryLong: The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rights of African Americans. At the march, several popular singers of the time, including Mahalia Jackson and Marian Anderson, performed and many of the movement's leaders gave speeches. The most notable speech came from the final speaker, Martin Luther King Jr., standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, as he delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech in which he called for an end to legalized racism and racial segregation.
lede: On August 28, 1963, more than 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., for a march demanding civil rights and economic equality for African Americans. The event featured speeches from major civil rights leaders, most memorably Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" address, and became a defining moment in the American civil rights movement.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Civil_rights_march_on_Washington%2C_D.C._from_Lincoln_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Civil_rights_march_on_Washington%2C_D.C._from_Lincoln_%28cropped%29.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "March on Washington"
importance: 93
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Attendance
  value: Approximately 250,000 people
- label: Date
  value: August 28, 1963
- label: Location
  value: Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.
- label: Primary organizers
  value: A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, James Farmer, John Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr.
- label: Key demand
  value: Passage of comprehensive civil rights legislation
- label: Notable speakers
  value: Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X (did not speak; attended), John Lewis, James Forman
- label: Media reach
  value: Broadcast live on major television networks; reached estimated 100+ million Americans via broadcast
- label: Legislation influenced
  value: Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed 9 months later; Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed 2 years later
timeline:
- date: 1963-06-15
  title: March planning accelerates
  description: A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin finalize organizational structure and logistics for the march after months of planning.
- date: 1963-08-28
  title: March on Washington begins
  description: Approximately 250,000 people gather at the Lincoln Memorial. The event is broadcast live on television networks, reaching millions nationwide.
- date: 1963-08-28
  title: MLK delivers "I Have a Dream" speech
  description: Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his most famous address during the march's main program, articulating a vision of racial equality.
- date: 1963-08-28
  title: John Lewis addresses the crowd
  description: SNCC chairman John Lewis, then 23, delivers a forceful speech demanding voting rights and criticizing federal inaction on segregation.
- date: 1963-09-15
  title: 16th Street Baptist Church bombing
  description: Ku Klux Klan members bomb an African American church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four children. The attack occurs less than three weeks after the march.
- date: 1964-07-02
  title: Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed
  description: President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act, directly addressing demands articulated at the march, outlawing discrimination in public accommodations.
- date: 1965-08-06
  title: Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed
  description: President Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act, eliminating literacy tests and other barriers to Black voter registration—core march demands.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_on_Washington"
  title: March on Washington
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The march galvanized national attention on racial segregation and economic inequality, shifted public opinion on civil rights, and directly influenced the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It demonstrated the power of nonviolent mass protest and established a blueprint for social movement organizing that persisted across decades.
categories:
- protest
taxonomy:
domain: social_movement
eventTypes:
- protest
- activist_campaign
- civil_disobedience
canonicalClasses:
- mobilization
- transformation
- celebration
impactRadius: national
velocity: sudden
predictability: scheduled
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: growth
metaDescription: 250,000+ gathered at the Lincoln Memorial on Aug 28, 1963, for the defining civil rights march featuring MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech.
wikidataQid: Q1128871
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260523235222/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_on_Washington"
  capturedAt: 2026-05-23
  label: March on Washington
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_on_Washington"
peoplesVoice:
- source: Martin Luther King Jr., Civil Rights Leader and March Organizer
  voiceType: official
  context: Delivered during the climactic speech at the Lincoln Memorial steps before 250,000 attendees on August 28, 1963.
  excerpt: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'all men are created equal.'"
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 95
  attribution: Speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
  publishedAt: 1963-08-28
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Malcolm X, Nation of Islam Representative
  voiceType: skeptic
  context: Speaking to journalists after observing the march from a distance, skeptical of its integrationist goals and white participation.
  excerpt: It's a farce. It's a circus. It's a joke. These Negroes have been bamboozled into thinking this march will solve their problems.
  sentimentLabel: dismissive
  significance: 72
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Contemporary news interviews and Nation of Islam statements, August 1963
  publishedAt: 1963-08-28
  originalLanguage: en
- source: James Reston, New York Times Columnist
  voiceType: media
  context: Writing for the Times the day after the march, assessing its historical weight and effectiveness as political theater.
  excerpt: The Negro leaders have turned the capital upside down, but they have done it with a grace and discipline that has confounded the skeptics.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 85
  attribution: The New York Times, August 29, 1963
  publishedAt: 1963-08-29
  originalLanguage: en
- source: George Wallace, Governor of Alabama
  voiceType: skeptic
  context: Responding to the march as a symbol of federal overreach and unwanted interference in state racial matters, August 1963.
  excerpt: This march will not change the laws or the hearts of the South. We will never surrender segregation.
  sentimentLabel: mocking
  significance: 68
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Alabama state statements and press conferences, August 1963
  publishedAt: 1963-08-28
  originalLanguage: en
- source: John Herbers, Civil Rights Reporter
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Field analysis from a journalist embedded with march participants, gauging momentum and organizational sophistication.
  excerpt: What struck observers most was the sheer organization and the nonviolent discipline. This was not a mob, but a movement.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 70
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Contemporary news dispatches and journalistic commentary, August 28, 1963
  publishedAt: 1963-08-28
  originalLanguage: en
