Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Marching on Washington

Today is the 50th anniversary of the historic "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom," which is mostly remembered today as the occasion of Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" address.  While subtracting nothing from what is rightly regarded as one of the seminal speeches of the 20th Century, the day was about much more than one speech.  Among the organizers and supporters of the event were some familiar faces from the world of entertainment.


Ruby Dee

Ossie Davis

Peter, Paul, and Mary perform

Joan Baez and Bob Dylan
Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte and Charlton Heston
Former National Baseball League player Jackie Robinson with his son
Sammy Davis, Jr. being interviewed with Roy Wilkins, Executive Secretary, NAACP

Author James Baldwin and Marlon Brando
Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster, Harry Belafonte and Charlton Heston



A. Philip Randolph, right, the director of the March on Washington, shakes hands with actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward at a benefit performance at Harlem's Apollo Theater. Stars performed a four-hour, post-midnight show that night which raised $30,000 only four days before the march began.
Opera Star Marian Anderson, NAACP executive secretary Roy Wilkins, Paul Newman, Rev. Robert Spike and actress Faye Emerson arrive in Washington.

Charlton Heston inside the Lincoln Memorial

No comments:

Post a Comment