March on Washington

In 1963 at New York's Roosevelt Hotel, a march organization was established at a meeting attended by the "Big Six" civil rights leaders: Randolph, Roy Wilkins (NAACP), James Farmer (CORE), John Lewis (SNCC), Whitney Young, Jr. (Urban League), and King (SCLC). The march would be used to lobby for the civil rights bill that was wending through Congress.

The march was scheduled for August 28th, which President Kennedy tried to persuade those involved to cancel. Failing to stop it, President Kennedy publicly embraced it.

Fears of a possible riot were intense, and Washington authorities and march organizers were determined to ensure a peaceful day. D.C. police units had all their leaves canceled; neighboring suburban forces were given special riot-control training. Liquor sales were banned for a day-for the first time since Prohibition. The Justice Department and the army coordinated preparations for emergency troop deployments. The main rally would be at the Lincoln Memorial. For the organizers, that site had a powerful symbolism. The police liked the site because, with water on three sides, the demonstrators could be easily contained.

Ahead of schedule, impatient demonstrators began to march up Independence and Constitution Avenues to the Lincoln Memorial. The march leaders got word of this surprise development while lobbying on Capitol Hill, and rushed to join. March marshals opened a passageway for them so that they could be photographed arm in arm "leading" the march.

Once they arrived at the memorial, many artists performed and activists spoke. At the closing ceremony, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, one of the greatest in oratory history. Afterwards, the gathered masses peacefully disbanded, making this one of the most peaceful and publicized demonstrations of American History.

[TABLE OF CONTENTS]

19th Amendment

In 1913, Alice Paul and Lucy Burns begin their crusade, along with other female activists, toward the passage of a federal amendment giving women the right to vote. Women picketed the White House, held demonstrations, and practiced other forms of civil disobedience in order to get their message heard.

The federal woman suffrage amendment, written by Susan B. Anthony was introduced numerous times in Congress. With great pressure from the women's movement, women were given the right to vote with the passage of the 19th Amendment on August 26, 1920.

[TABLE OF CONTENTS]