An overview of the March on Washington

1. The 1963 March on Washington was a huge event.

2. Estimates put the crowd that showed up at 200,000 to 250,000 people of all races.

3. Washington’s 2,900 police were not given leave and a further 1,000 out-of-town police were on hand in case of trouble.

4. Police were not needed. The march was entirely peaceful. Even all the rubbish was collected at the end of the day by a 500 person clean-up crew.

5. Marchers protested various issues.

6. CBS, NBC and ABC all provided television coverage of the event.

7. Sports stars (Jackie Robinson)…

8. Musicians (Joan Baez and Bob Dylan)…

9. And movie stars (James Baldwin, Charlton Heston and Marlon Brando) all gave their support by attending.

10. It was this day MLK delivered his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.

11. The march was instantly recognised as important and JFK invited the leaders to the White House afterwards.