Fifty-seven years after the historic 1963 March on Washington, tens of thousands of Americans were expected to assemble at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 2020, to mark the anniversary and continue the push for racial justice. The 1963 march is perhaps best known for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, but in reality, the Civil Rights-era event meant so much more to America’s history.
Philadelphia-based photographer Jack T. Franklin captured the richly faceted meaning of that original March on Washington. Here are some of the rarely seen photographs taken by Franklin, including this image of marchers en route to the Lincoln Memorial.
Franklin passed away in 2009. Thousands more of his images of African American life are held in the permanent collection of the African-American Museum in Philadelphia.
Credit: Jack T. Franklin courtesy Charles L. Blockson
