{"id":1457,"date":"2013-08-28T04:02:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-28T04:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=1457"},"modified":"2014-12-23T20:28:25","modified_gmt":"2014-12-23T20:28:25","slug":"the-march-on-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/08\/28\/the-march-on-washington\/","title":{"rendered":"The March on Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Part <\/a>
Part of the Pittsburgh delegation. (UPI photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. waves to the crowd. (UPI photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"View <\/a>
View from behind the Lincoln statue. (UPI photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

August 28, 1963:\u00a0<\/strong>The first special train arrived at Union Station in Washington D.C. before 7 a.m. and carried 535 marchers from Pittsburgh. Next came a train from Cincinnati. People were coming by bus, plane, automobile, bicycle and foot. The whole affair was giving the nation\u2019s capital a case of the jitters. Alcohol sales were banned. Hospitals and jails made room for an onslaught of arrivals. More than 5,000 police were on hand. Many expected riots and looting.<\/p>\n

Instead, the \u201cMarch for Jobs and Freedom\u201d had the peaceful atmosphere of a church picnic. Known now as the \u201cMarch on Washington,\u201d the event drew more than 200,000 people to the capital and became a defining moment in the nation\u2019s Civil Rights Movement.<\/p>\n

The march itself was fairly short \u2014 nine blocks, from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, where formal ceremonies were held. In the front ranks were the Pittsburgh delegates, singing marching songs and \u201cThe Battle Hymn of the Republic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Men removed their coats in the summer heat. The chant of \u201cfreedom, freedom\u201d filled the air. At the Lincoln Memorial, speakers and musicians awaited the start of the official program. Not everyone was pleased with President John F. Kennedy\u2019s pending Civil Rights legislation. Two Kennedy aides stood by, ready to pull the plug on the sound system should any of the speakers get out of hand.<\/p>\n

Of course, The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s \u201cI Have a Dream\u201d speech was the day\u2019s highlight. It was carried live on television and is today considered one of the most important and moving speeches in American history.<\/p>\n

Before the march, the Pennsylvania delegation met with Rep. William S. Moorhead, a Pittsburgh Democrat. Over coffee and breakfast rolls, Moorhead confided that passage of Civil Rights legislation then before Congress was by no means certain \u2014 blunt assessment that \u201cmystified and dismayed\u201d Moorhead\u2019s fellow Pittsburghers, according to the Press.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think our coming here has helped the bill?\u201d one marcher asked.<\/p>\n

Probably, Moorhead replied. The march, in fact, is now credited with providing the political momentum that ensured passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first special train arrived at Union Station in Washington D.C. before 7 a.m. and carried 535 marchers from Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesThe March on Washington<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[948],"tags":[962,1211,980],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/tumblr_ms5s2f6HYO1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1080%2C830&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":633,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/05\/23\/labor-leader-asa-phililp-randolph\/","url_meta":{"origin":1457,"position":0},"title":"Labor leader Asa Phililp Randolph","date":"May 23, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"He knew what it meant to work hard and persevere.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_n5zueqGTeF1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=1024%2C835&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8227,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2017\/10\/18\/the-ku-klux-klan-and-a-family-photo-album\/","url_meta":{"origin":1457,"position":1},"title":"The Ku Klux Klan and a family photo album","date":"October 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"During a visit to his parent\u2019s home in Bridgeville this past summer, Paul Ludwick sat in a living room and pulled open the worn cover of an overstuffed photo album. He hoped the pictures placed in the crinkled pages nine decades ago would answer a few questions about his grandparents,\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Digs.KKK003.jpg?fit=1200%2C952&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":746,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/04\/21\/sculptor-selma-burke\/","url_meta":{"origin":1457,"position":2},"title":"Sculptor Selma Burke","date":"April 21, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Born into poverty in Mooresville, North Carolina, Ms. Burke dug her fingers into riverbank clay as child.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_n48bvqJHlg1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=864%2C834&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1972,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/03\/13\/record-flood-inundates-pittsburgh-in-1907\/","url_meta":{"origin":1457,"position":3},"title":"Record flood inundates Pittsburgh in 1907","date":"March 13, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"When the flood of March 1907 deluged the city at the confluence of three rivers, Pittsburg was spelled without its h.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/tumblr_mjjwxkZjj51rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C825&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7048,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2016\/12\/09\/father-cox-and-his-army-of-unemployed\/","url_meta":{"origin":1457,"position":4},"title":"Father Cox and his army of unemployed","date":"December 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Thousand of jobless men gathered in the city to begin a trek to Washington D.C.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Digs_CoxArmy006.jpg?fit=1200%2C921&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2260,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/11\/26\/signing-up-for-dr-benjamin-spock-and-draft-resistance\/","url_meta":{"origin":1457,"position":5},"title":"‘Signing up’ for Dr. Benjamin Spock and draft resistance","date":"November 26, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Author and pediatrician Benjamin Spock played a prominent role in a resistance campaign against the Vietnam War.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tumblr_mdr5wmJltW1rr5swxo1_500.jpg?fit=423%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1457"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1457"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4121,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1457\/revisions\/4121"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}