March on Washington

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White House meeting of civil rights leaders in 1963

For Students

Martin Luther King, Jr. (center), with other civil rights supporters lock arms on as they lead the way along Constitution Avenue during the March on Washington, Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963.

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History & Society

March on Washington

United States history [1963]

Also known as: March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

March on Washington

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Category: History & Society

In full:: March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Date:: August 28, 1963

Location:: United States; Washington, D.C.

Context:: American civil rights movement

Major Events:: I Have a Dream

Key People:: Martin Luther King, Jr.; A. Philip Randolph; Bayard Rustin; John Lewis

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March on Washington, political demonstration held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963, that was attended by an estimated 250,000 people to protest racial discrimination and to show support for major civil rights legislation that was pending in Congress. The March on Washington was the result of collaboration among the “Big Six” of the civil rights movement: James Farmer, Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lewis, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, and Whitney Young, all leaders of civil rights groups. The activist Bayard Rustin was its main organizer. The event brought together hundreds of thousands of people who gathered peaceably on ...(100 of 344 words)

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