March on Washington Draws 250,000 for Jobs and Freedom as MLK Delivers I Have a Dream Speech

On August 28, 1963, approximately 250,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the largest demonstration for civil rights in American history to that point. Organized by Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph, the march built an alliance of civil rights, labor, and religious organizations demanding both racial justice and economic opportunity. From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech to over 250,000 supporters, departing from his prepared text when gospel singer Mahalia Jackson called out from behind him, “Tell ’em about the dream, Martin!” The speech became one of the most iconic moments in American history, articulating a vision of racial equality and justice that resonated across the nation and around the world.

President John F. Kennedy initially opposed the march, fearing it might provoke a congressional backlash against the civil rights legislation he had proposed in June 1963 following the Birmingham campaign. Kennedy worried that any problems or violence would generate negative perceptions that could doom the civil rights bill making its way through Congress. Once it became clear the march would proceed regardless, however, Kennedy’s administration cooperated with organizers, and the Justice Department assigned a full-time liaison to help with planning. The march was deliberately designed to demonstrate mass public support for Kennedy’s civil rights legislation and to pressure Congress to act, featuring speakers who emphasized both the moral imperative and the political necessity of federal civil rights enforcement.

The March on Washington succeeded in galvanizing national support for civil rights legislation, though it also revealed persistent institutional resistance. TIME magazine named King “Man of the Year” for 1963, and in 1964 he became the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize at age 35. The march directly contributed to passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. However, less than three weeks after the march, on September 15, 1963, KKK members bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, killing four young girls and demonstrating that violent resistance to integration continued despite the march’s peaceful success. The march’s focus on both jobs and freedom highlighted the interconnection between racial and economic justice—a link that would become increasingly important as the civil rights movement confronted not just legal segregation but systemic economic inequality. The Kennedy administration’s initial reluctance, followed by cooperation, illustrated the complex institutional dynamics where federal officials balanced civil rights commitments against political calculations, revealing how even supportive administrations hedged their support based on concerns about Southern congressional power and white voter reactions.