Leon Litwack: The 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington

In the summer of 1963 more than 200,000 demonstrators descended on the nation’s capital to participate in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The event was highlighted by Martin Luther King’s memorable “I Have A Dream” speech and pressured the Kennedy administration into initiating a strong federal civil rights bill.

Historian Leon Litwack kicks off this year’s Richard D. McKinzie Research Symposium with his talk on this seminal event in American history. Funded by the Bernardin Haskell Lecture Fund and co-sponsored by the UMKC Department of History, and the Organization of American Historians.