The 1963 March on Washington in Photos

An estimated quarter of a million people marched on Washington on August 28, 1963, to protest Jim Crow laws and promote equality for all.

22 photos
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AP Photo
As we celebrate Martin Luther King's birth on January 20, we take a look back at the landmark march and his speech Aug. 28, 1963. An estimated 200,000 to 300,000 people from across the country gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington on that day.
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AP
Dotted lines locate the assembly area of the March on Washington. Marchers gathered near the Washington Monument and paraded down Constitution and Independence avenues to converge on the Lincoln Memorial.
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Getty Images
President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson met with civil rights leaders at the White House following the March on Washington to talk about bi-partisan support for civil rights legislation, though not all marchers were in support of the administration's legislation.
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AP
John Lewis, center, national chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, explains protective measures to two white students participating in the civil rights movement on July 18, 1963.
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AP
Workmen install a telephone junction box near the Washington Monument, Aug. 25, 1963, to provide a general communications system at the Monument grounds.
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Stacks of signs asking for civil rights action were placed at the Washington Monument grounds the day before the march by volunteers.
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Getty Images
The marble statue of Abraham Lincoln illuminated during the march as civil rights leaders spoke.
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The top of the Washington Monument and part of a U.S. flag are reflected in the sunglasses of Austin Clinton Brown, 9, of Gainesville, Ga., as he poses at the Capitol where he joined others in the March on Washington.
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Two young men sit under a piece of cardboard to shield themselves from the sun. By the days' end, 35 Red Cross stations had treated 1,335 people for heat exhaustion at the March on Washington.
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Young white demonstrators with painted equal signs on their forehead walk to the March on Washington.
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Folk singers Joan Baez and Bob Dylan were among the artists who performed at the March on Washington.
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The "Peace, Jobs and Freedom" march commemorated the 1963 civil rights demonstration led by Martin Luther King Jr.
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Many newspapers, signs and placards were handed out at the Lincoln Memorial as March on Washington demonstrators heard speeches by prominent civil rights leaders.
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Army military policemen line up at Washington Monument grounds for duty during the March on Washington.
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A group of less than 100 Americans living in Israel followed an appeal to support the anti-segregation march in Washington.
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Young women sing sit-in songs at the New Haven bus terminal on August 28, 1963 just before their departure for Washington, D.C. to take part in the March on Washington.
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An aerial view shows the shadow of the Washington Monument as it points toward the spot where line forms for the March on Washington parade.The photo was made a by camera which was mounted on a pole and held out of window at top of monument. (AP Photo)
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Workers at the Washington Monument headquarters at the March on Washington help pin armbands on each other. (AP Photo)
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Kathleen Johnson of Newark, N.J. gets help from marchers assembled near the Lincoln Memorial as part of the March On Washington.. Mrs. Johnson fell into the reflecting pool near the memorial while trying to take a photograph of the area. (AP Photo)
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Members of the Savannah, Ga., NAACP delegation arrive in Washington D.C., to join the March On Washington demonstration. They are shown leaving Union Station. (AP Photo)
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Martin Luther King, Jr., Roy Wilkins, Whitney H. Young, and other civil rights leaders pose below the Lincoln Statue at the Lincoln Memorial.
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Courtesy of Ginnel Real Estate
In this Aug. 28, 1963 photo, The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, gestures during his "I Have a Dream" speech as he addresses thousands of civil rights supporters gathered in Washington, D.C.
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