History

Clarence B. Jones, legal adviser to Martin Luther King Jr., takes notes behind King at a press conference regarding in Birmingham, Ala., in February 1963.

National

For King's Adviser, Fulfilling The Dream 'Cannot Wait'

12:33pm August 28, 2013

by Michele Norris

After days of worry, Clarence B. Jones, legal adviser to Martin Luther King Jr., was relieved to stand at the Lincoln Memorial and watch the event unfold without a hitch. While there's been great progress in the decades since, Jones says, he also feels King's dream still remains unfulfilled.

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A spectator on the National Mall holds an image of President Obama and Martin Luther King during the 2013 presidential inauguration in January.

Obama To Outline Unfinished Work, Decades After King's Dream

12:33pm August 28, 2013

by Scott Horsley

In marking the anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, President Obama will celebrate the progress the United States has made, aides say. But he'll also talk about what's left to be done to achieve Martin Luther King's dream of racial justice — including fighting to protect voting rights.

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Sleepy, Southern And Segregated: What D.C. Was Like In '63

5:30pm August 27, 2013

by Brian Naylor

The 1963 March on Washington was a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement. And the city those protesters marched on 50 years ago was very different from the Washington of today.

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Clarence B. Jones this month in Palo Alto, Calif. As Martin Luther King Jr.'s attorney and adviser, Jones contributed to many of King's speeches, including his famous speech at the March on Washington in 1963.

National

Clarence B. Jones: A Guiding Hand Behind 'I Have A Dream'

4:59pm August 27, 2013

by Michele Norris

Clarence Jones played an integral but mostly unseen role in the 1963 March on Washington. As Martin Luther King Jr.'s legal adviser, Jones assisted in drafting King's landmark speech, and drew from a recent event in Birmingham, Ala., to craft one of the speech's signature lines.

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Daisy Bates of Little Rock, Ark., visited Memphis, Tenn., in August 1959 with Lt. George W. Lee, a prominent Memphis civic leader and author. Bates acted as adviser to the nine black students who integrated Little Rock's Central High School in 1957. She d

National

While Unsung in '63, Women Weren't Just 'Background Singers'

11:17am August 25, 2013

by Karen Grigsby Bates

That sweltering August day in 1963, when almost a quarter-million people thronged the National Mall, women were relegated to the background, even as they played major roles in the movement.

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Civil rights leader Martin Luther King waves to supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963, in Washington.

National

Why It's Difficult To Find Full Video Of King's Historic Speech

12:11pm August 24, 2013

by Eyder Peralta

Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech is copyrighted, limiting its presence online. One organization, however, has decided to provide ready access to the video.

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Members of the Congress of Racial Equality leaving Brooklyn en route to the March on Washington, on April 15, 1963. At 16, Lawrence Cumberbatch (fourth from left, in back wearing a white hat) was the group's youngest member.

National

At 16, Making A Trek To Make The '63 March On Washington

6:47pm August 23, 2013

by NPR Staff

Lawrence Cumberbatch's parents thought their 16-year-old son was too young to walk from Brooklyn to the March on Washington in 1963. And enlisting Lawrence's uncle to dissuade him didn't have quite the effect they had hoped for, Lawrence tells his son, Simeon.

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A newspaper clipping from The Cincinnati Herald on Sept. 14, 1963, included a picture of Jack Hansan and other members of the Cincinnati delegation.

National

To Join '63 March On Washington: 'Like Climbing A Mountain'

9:49am August 23, 2013

by Michele Norris

When civil rights worker Jack Hansan traveled to Washington to participate in the march, the fear of violence breaking out was very real. But the father of four knew he had to be there, not just to witness history, but also to play a part in changing it.

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Participants in the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride sit on a bus that will travel from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., Sept. 23, 2003.

National

Summer Of '63: Old Lessons For A New Movement

6:38pm August 21, 2013

by Shereen Marisol Meraji

Today's undocumented activists are using strategies borrowed from the civil rights movement and calling their struggle "The Civil Rights Movement of the 21st Century."

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Museum Raises Money To Save 'Rosie The Riveter' Plant

12:03pm August 21, 2013

by Tracy Samilton

A Michigan aviation museum has until Oct. 1 to save a historic factory from the wrecking ball. The Yankee Air Museum still needs to raise more than $3 million to rebuild part of the huge Willow Run bomber plant, where Rosie the Riveter worked during World War II. (This piece initially aired on Aug, 4. 2013, on All Things Considered)

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