Ida B. Wells-Barnett
Ida B. Wells-Barnett, a prominent Black activist, played a significIda B. Wells-Barnett, a prominent Black activist, played a significant role in the women’s suffrage movement, standing up for African American women in a movement from which they were routinely excluded. At the Women’s Suffragist Procession down Pennsylvania Ave in 1913, on the day before Woodrow Wilson’s Presidential Inauguration, word spread that National Woman’s Party Leader Alice Paul wanted the march to be segregated. The Delegation of Illinois Suffragists instructed Ida B. Wells-Barnett, their only Black member, to go to the back of the procession. Instead, she stood along the parade route. When the Illinois Delegation appeared, Wells stepped out in front and led the Illinois suffragists for the rest of the procession, a statement that Black women were essential leaders in the fight for women’s suffrage and must be recognized as such. (Source: National Park Service)
Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson, the renowned African American opera singer, made history when she performed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, 1939. After being prohibited from performing at Constitution Hall because she was Black, Marian Anderson worked with Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to find an alternate location for her concert. While Constitution Hall would have permitted an audience of a few thousand, the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall enabled more than 75,000 people to attend the historic event. Marian Anderson inspired the nation by breaking barriers, with the Lincoln Memorial serving as a backdrop for her, her message and for the Civil Rights Movement. She performed again at the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
A. Philip Randolph
A. Philip Randolph, labor leader and social activist, was named the Director of the 1963 March on Washington and shared the stage with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., speaking to over 200,000 people and calling for equal rights. Randolph set the precedent for the 1963 march by organizing a 10,000 person demonstration in Washington, DC in 1941 to protest unfair working conditions and discrimination in defense industries--becoming a leading force in desegregating the military. Randolph is the founder of The Messenger, an African-American socialist magazine, and The Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters, the first official Black labor union. In 1964 Randolph was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Lyndon B. Johnson for his work to advance Civil Rights. (Source: PBS)
Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin, civil rights leader and activist, was the Deputy Director of the 1963 March on Washington and was the chief organizer of the event. His tactics in organizing the day’s events are praised for being one of the most outstanding event executions in history. In addition to the notable scale of the event, which gathered an estimated 250,000 Americans from all different parts of the country, Rustin successfully executed the March despite opposition from the Kennedy Administration and fears of violence from the public. Rustin also faced discrimination for being an openly gay activist, a cause for his reduced position title of “deputy”. The success of this event not only centralized the Civil Rights Movement among African Americans, but demonstrated what a powerful stage the National Mall could be to amplify citizens’ voices and forge a path towards changing laws. Rustin’s creative communications strategies and planning with local and national organizations established a model for how events on the National Mall should be executed. Rustin posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013. (Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture)
John Lewis
John Lewis, in addition to helping plan the 1963 March on Washington, was the youngest person to speak at the event at just 23 years old. He delivered a powerful speech criticizing lawmakers for not doing enough to stop discrimination. John Lewis was a constant force advocating for equal rights. He was one of the 13 original “Freedom Riders,” challenging segregation in the South, organized the march from Selma to Montgomery for voting rights, and directed the Voter Education Project. John Lewis served as US Representative for Georgia’s 5th District from 1987 to his death in 2020. In that role, he continued to advocate for voting rights and improvements in education, mentored generations of civil rights leaders, and was a vocal and ardent civil rights leader until his death in 2020. (Source: Biography)
Dorothy Height
Dorothy Height was an activist and key advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and was an organizer of and participant in the 1963 March on Washington. Height spent her life fighting racism and sexism, and she was called on to advise multiple political leaders, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Lyndon B. Johnson. She was the president of the National Council of Negro Women for more than 40 years, which supported voting rights and funded many civil rights activists through her leadership. Height was the only woman activist on the speakers’ platform during King’s “I Have a Dream’’ speech, though she herself was not given time to speak besides playing a key role in the March’s planning. (Source: National Women's History Museum)
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