Witnesses to History: Spectators reflect on attending the ’63 March on Washington

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Woolsey had just graduated from Stanford University that spring, and would soon leave for Oxford University in the fall. That summer he had also volunteered for the Congress of Racial Equality’s (CORE) direct action project, tutoring kids in inner city D.C. When organizers approached CORE workers looking for marshals, he was happy to help.

“As I remember, we went through some nonviolence training,” Woolsey told theGrio. “People were really worried about hard-right Nazi groups coming across the river from Northern Virginia and starting something. All we were supposed to do was lie in front of the Nazis and keep them from disrupting the march. But once we saw just how large the crowd was, we knew not much could disrupt it.”

Woolsey says, instead confrontations with Nazis, marshals spent most of their time moving through the peaceful crowd, getting stretchers for people who were overcome by the heat, and distributing water.

“Because of the heat, everyone was sort of wilted,” says Woolsey. “A lot of people took off their coats and shoes and sat near the reflecting pool. As I recall, King was one of the last speakers. As it became clear that he was about to come up, all over the tidal basin and without any announcement, everybody started standing up, fixing their ties and putting on their hats, coats and shoes.”

Woolsey, who was standing about 50 yards from the podium, says it’s a moment he’ll never forget.

“It has since been my measurement of a leader,” he says. “Anyone that calls his or herself a leader should ask themselves if, in blazing summer heat, they could get a few hundred thousand people to stand up straight and pay attention.”

Stereotypes of blacks, shattered

Pechman’s group left Bethesda and arrived in the city by mid-morning. Her group joined a growing mass of people near the State Department. They all headed toward the Linclon Memorial, finally settling near the front of the crowd, to the right of the main platform.

“It was the largest group of humanity I’d ever imagined,” Pechman says. “I had a very stereotypical view of black people based on images in the media, from the scary laborer to the churchman. That was it. What I saw and was surrounded by that day was something I hadn’t seen before. It was this gorgeous blanket of color. People were dressed in what looked like their best clothes. They were walking quietly with dignity, purpose, with clarity, comfort and clam.”

She doesn’t remember every detail of that day. It was warm, over 80 degrees according to reports. Pechman says the crowd listened to the program over loud speakers and the general vibe was that of a picnic, of a homecoming.

“I remember young children in the trees,” she says. “In trees, and pretty much everything else you could climb, they were up there trying to get the best view.”

Subdued by the heat and long program, they just listened carefully. 

Marching in a segregated city

Lloyd E. Clayton was already a married father of two on the day of the march. A resident of Washington, D.C., he was working at Walter Reed Hospital at the time.

“I can’t remember everything, but back then D.C. was segregated. Let me tell you it was segregated,” the 92-year-old told theGrio. “But the march was not limited to any one group of people. There was s variety. It was like there was nothing else in the world going on, but that march. They were hand in hand, and I was most inspired to see people walking together and talking to each other.”

Clayton says he was struck by gospel legend Mahalia Jackson’s performance of “How I Got Over” and, of course, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech.

“We stayed until the end. We couldn’t afford to leave,” Clayton says. “I had no idea it would have such an impact. I worried that it would be just another that thing happened and would soon be forgotten, but it didn’t turn out that way.”

Remembering the “Dream” speech

The starting title of Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech was “Normalcy – Never Again,” the most noted sections of his delivery on August 28, 1963 being improvised and added to the original. It has been said that King was inspired by Mahalia Jackson, a gospel great who was active in the Civil Rights Movement, and attended other events at which Dr. King had preached.

People who were there remember her shouting from behind him, “Tell ‘em about the dream, Martin!” Jackson also performed that day.

“It was long day,” says Colen. “Sadly, I don’t remember many of the performances. I don’t remember John Lewis’ speech. I remember hearing King’s speech — the second half.  I’ll say there was no way I thought I was hearing the greatest speech of the 20th century. But when he got to the ‘I have a dream’ part, you couldn’t help but be moved. People who were familiar with the cadences of the black church, they were clearly swept up by it. It was a sermon.”

Pechman says when the program was over she was left with overwhelming joy and optimism. Almost everyone agreed that the event was a phenomenon that signaled some possibility. Woolsey considers the moment a “marvelous linchpin” that made it possible for many Americans to believe that the Civil Right Movement was a worthy cause.

“It was awfully hard after that march for anybody to say the Civil Rights Movement was a bunch of dangerous people doing dangerous things,” Woolsey says. “It turned many average Americans, especially many non-black Americans, into supporters.”

Follow Donovan X. Ramsey on Twitter @iDXR