A Day Like No Other: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington
Preparing for the March

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was organized in New York City in a Harlem office building. A. Philip Randolph and Martin Luther King, Jr., decided in May 1963 that the March would be held in August while Congress was in session, and on a Wednesday so as not to conflict with religious services over a weekend. Bayard Rustin, a leading strategist with experience in organizing protest demonstrations, was put in charge of coordinating the massive undertaking. For two months during the summer of 1963, dedicated volunteers from many parts of the country spent long days and nights raising money, mobilizing participants, distributing organization manuals, arranging transportation, preparing 80,000 box lunches, and creating placards and flyers so that the March would be a success. 

Orlando Fernandez. [Cleveland Robinson standing on second floor balcony of the National Headquarters of the March on Washington in Harlem], 1963. Gelatin silver print. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (029.00.00)
© Orlando Fernandez

Orlando Fernandez. In Front of 170 W 130 St., March on Washington, l t[o] r, Bayard Rustin, Deputy Director, Cleveland Robinson, Chairman of Administrative Committee, published August 7, 1963. Gelatin silver print. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (030.00.00)
© Orlando Fernandez

United Press International. Plan March Strategy, published August 3, 1963. [A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, and Anna Arnold Hedgeman plan the route for the march]. Gelatin silver print. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (031.00.00)

Associated Press. Confer on Civil Rights March, published August 3, 1963. [Leaders of 1963 March on Washington Bayard Rustin, Asa Philip Randolph, and Dr. John Morsell holding a press conference in the New York headquarters]. Gelatin silver print. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (032.00.00)

Beyond the New York City headquarters, people from all walks of life also began to prepare for the peaceful demonstration in a spirit of camaraderie. The list of participating organizations and sponsors grew to include not only the NAACP, National Urban League, and Congress for Racial Equality, but the National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice, the United Auto Workers, National Council of the Churches in Christ in America, the American Jewish Congress, and many others who joined in support of the non-violent protest.

United Press International. Discuss Plans to Join Rights March, August 8, 1963. [(left to right) Charlton Heston, Judy Garland, Eartha Kitt, and Marlon Brando at a meeting to discuss plans for joining the civil rights march]. Gelatin silver print. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (033.00.00)

United Press International. Marchers Leave for Washington, published August 28, 1963. [March participants boarding buses outside the Broadway Congregational Church, New York City]. Gelatin silver print. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (034.00.00)

United Press International. [Volunteer workers at the Riverside Church prepare box lunches for marchers. Eighty-thousand lunches were shipped to Washington in refrigerator trucks], August 28, 1963. Gelatin silver print. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (035.00.00)

Orlando Fernandez. [Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) members swing down Fort Hamilton Parkway, Brooklyn, toward 69th St. ferry on trek to Washington], August 15, 1963. Gelatin silver print. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (036.00.00)
© Orlando Fernandez