Rhetoric 105, Section S1

13 April 2004

Man Skates From Chicago To Washington For Demonstration

On Friday, April 2, 2004, our group met at the library and began our research on the Washington march of 1963. Ryan began by searching the library’s online search; he used keywords such as “1963 March on Washington” or “Civil Rights” and found three books for us to analyze. We used the Book Review Index to locate a journal containing a review of the book An Eyewitness History of the Civil Rights Movement written by Sanford Wexler in 1993. Meanwhile, Jon and Emilie skimmed the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature and the New York Times Index and found multiple articles printed in Christian Century, US News and World Report and the New York Times. We selected a few articles that contained information about the march to interpret and record for our paper. We sat at a table, read information and communicated about our ideas on the topic. The process of researching was relatively quick and simple because of our extensive knowledge of the library and its resources. Articles and information were easy to find, suggesting that the march was a well-covered event, and we found predominately articulate, insightful data.

The 1963 march on Washington was a major event in a tradition of orderly non-violent protest. Asa Philip Randolph, the man who proposed the 1963 March on Washington, tried to stage a march on Washington over twenty years before. At that time, he accepted President Roosevelt’s order and created the Fair Employment Practice Committee and the 1940 march was called off (Saunders 16). However, in 1963 there were mounting reasons to have this walk; black unemployment, violence against demonstrators in Birmingham, and the Civil Rights Bill were all reaching peak interest at this time and the march could wait no longer.

It took a bit of convincing to get President Kennedy to allow the march to happen, but in the end he gave the go ahead declaring that the march would be “in the great tradition of peaceful assembly for the redress of grievance” (Wexler 180). Our most recent source, published in 2002, states that “[the marchers] had the unprecedented blessing of President John F. Kennedy” (Barber 141). However, it should be noted that texts written around 1963 show that Kennedy was indeed leery about letting the march take place and he originally attempted to dissuade the organizers from marching. Kennedy feared that the demonstration would lead to violence and the disruption of Congress and the capital (Wexler 179).

The day of the march started with people slowly arriving at the Washington Monument around seven o’clock AM. The organizers were a little nervous about the size of their turn out until the rush of forty thousand people at nine o’clock AM. By eleven o’clock AM, the number had doubled (Saunders 9). Sources agree that greater than 200,000 people marched from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial. The marchers of all races, including 20,000 white demonstrators, came from all over the country and even over seas (“As 200,000 Marched in Washington” 39). In the book An Eyewitness History of the Civil Rights Movement, there is an account of a man roller-skating “689 miles from Chicago, taking 10 days for the trip. ‘I’m tired,’ he told the crowd, ‘let my legs speak for me’” (180). The Library Journal reviews this book as an insightful overview of Civil Rights events for academic purposes, informing us that the book is a credible source (155).

The general consensus is that the marchers themselves were the true focus of the Washington march. There were also a great number of enigmatic speakers at the demonstration whose presence cannot be ignored. A. Philip Randolph, 74 years old, began the address to the crowd and was followed by many others, including a fiery John Lewis, only 23 years old (Wexler 187). Without a doubt, the most moving and memorable speaker was Martin Luther King Jr. His speech was originally prewritten and formal. However, after a woman behind him, Mahalia Jackson, cried out “[t]ell them about your dream!” King’s speech developed into the famous, beautiful and passionate “I Have a Dream” speech bringing the day’s events to a close (189).

Many of the current articles describing the March on Washington were written and published by marchers themselves. To the marchers, the 1963 Washington march expresses deep purpose and urgency. Similarly to James Baldwin’s Down at the Cross, the marchers demand change “NOW!” peacefully, courteously and tranquilly (Fey 1094). Photographs of the event capture the peaceful nature of the event (“As 200,000 Marched in Washington” 42). Marchers chanted “We Shall Overcome,” showing their deep hope for future justice (39). However, just as James Baldwin leaves his readers with a sense of fear for what is to follow if the United States does not change, so too does Christian Century’s reporter, Harold E. Fey, state that “if the democratic program of this revolution without hatred is defeated” other marchers will march, led by leaders who “manipulate hatred and violence for their own ends” (Fey 1095).

The marchers strongly felt that their civil rights demonstration would act as a catalyst to change. However, an article published in US News and World Report stated that, in the past, “marchers have made their way to the nation’s capital to publicize grievances,” from votes for women to peace pacts, and have not succeeded in convincing Congress to rapidly accommodate their demands (“Marching on Washington: An Old Story to the Capital” 29). The New York Times publicized that “the Negro demonstration is mainly one of annoyance” (32). Also, weary marchers realized that although men and women, white and black, had come together to attain freedom, change was likely to be delayed (“As 200,000 Marched In Washington” 40).

Photographs from August 28^th, 1963 depict the success of the Washington march. Men and women are wearing their Sunday best and the crowds patiently parade through the capital. Seas of people fill the entire space of pictures holding signs demanding immediate recognition of their rights NOW! Although the nation speculated about the immediate outcome of the 1963 March on Washington, the day’s events proved that the United States could come together to attain justice.

Works Cited

“As 200,000 Marched in Washington.” US News and World Report 9 Sept. 1963: 39-44.

Baldwin, James. “Notes of a Native Son.” 1955. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998. 296-347.

Barber, Lucy G. Marching on Washington: The Forging of An American Political

Tradition. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.

“Civil Rights Movement.” Encyclopedia of American Political History. 1^st ed. 1984.

Fey, Harold E. “Revolution Without Hatred.” Christian Century 11 Sept. 1963: 1094-95.

Jeffrey, Jonathan. “Social Sciences Book Review” Library Journal June 1993: 154-55.

“Marching on Washington: An Old Story to the Capital.” US News and World Report

2 Sept. 1963: 29.

Reston, James. “The White Man’s Burden and All That.” New York Times 28 Aug.

1963: L32.

Saunders, Doris E., ed. The Day They Marched. Chicago: Johnson Publishing Company

Inc., 1963.

Wexler, Sanford.  An Eyewitness History of the Civil Rights Movement.  New York:

               Checkmark Books: An Imprint of Facts On File Inc., 1993.