This article explores the important but often overlooked contributions of women at the 1963 March on Washington and their impact on the Civil Rights Movement.
Articulated Insight – “News, Race and Culture in the Information Age”
On Wednesday, August 28, 1963, the National Park Service estimated that 250,000 Americans gathered on the National Mall to hear Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. deliver his “I Have a Dream” speech.
On that hot summer day sixty-one years ago this week, Black and White Americans, young and old alike, from all walks of life heeded the calls of Dr. King and other civil rights leaders and traveled to the Nation’s capital to protest an end to segregation, employment discrimination, and other discriminatory practices in civil rights. In addition, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom sought to establish voting rights, fair wages, and economic justice.
More than just a gathering, the 1963 march was a catalyst for change. It sowed the seeds for the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which reshaped the landscape of civil rights in America.
For those alive who were in attendance or younger Americans who had not yet been born but learned about the march in their history books, what stood out from that Wednesday afternoon was the soaring oratory of Dr. King, who shared his Dream of an America “where my four little children will one day live in a country where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their conscience.”
However, what is much less known is women’s role in planning and executing the March on Washington. And the behind-the-scenes – and front – -sexism and male chauvinism that surrounded
For example, Dr. Dorothy Height, who served as president of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), was not permitted to speak despite being a key event organizer.
Height, who died in April 2010, was only allowed to sit on the stage with other women leaders. This was despite her contributions to the march, which included organizing thousands of women volunteers, arranging transportation, and sharing her expertise on topics like suffrage and segregation.
One woman who participated in the march without speaking was the renowned Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who sang the National Anthem. After Dr. King’s address, singer Marian Anderson sang, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.”
Composer, poet, and singer Eva Jesse was a steady accompaniment throughout the day. Odetta, dubbed by Dr. King “The Queen of American Folk Music,” sang, as did Joan Baez, who, at age 22, offered a stirring rendition of “We Shall Overcome.”
Actress Lena Horne stepped to the podium and shouted one word: “Freedom!” Ruby Dee also had a brief speaking role.
As march organizers worked backstage to tone down the fiery speech that the young Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) leader, John Lewis, wanted to deliver, singer and civil rights activist Josephine Baker was invited to the podium to deliver brief remarks.
And the recently widowed Myrlie Evers, whose husband, Medgar, Mississippi Field Secretary of the NAACP, had recently been assassinated on June 11, missed her opportunity to address the crowd because she was delayed due to traffic from the airport.
Instead, Daisy Bates, NAACP Chapter President in Little Rock, Arkansas, spoke to the assembled crowd, saying:
“Mr. Randolph, friends, the women of the country, our pledge to you, to Martin Luther King, Roy Wilkins, and all of you fighting for civil liberties – that we will join hands with you as women of this country…. All the women pledge that we will join hands with you. We will kneel in and sit in until we can eat in every corner of the United States. We will walk until we are free, until we can walk to any school and take our children to any school in the United States. And we will sit in, and we will kneel in, and we will lie in until every Negro in America can vote. This we pledge to the women of America.”
#WomeninHistory #CivilRightsMovement #GenderEquality
