March on Washington Correspondence, Letter to Stokley

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

March on Washington Correspondence, Letter to Stokley MARCH ON WASHINGTON FOR JOBS AND FREEDOM 170 West 130 Street New York 27, New York Filmore 8-1900 August 18, 1963 Founding Chairmen Mathew Ahmann Mr . Stokley Carmichael Eugene Carson Blake Student Nonviolebb Coordinating Committee James Farmer 708 Avenue N Martin Luther King John Lewis Greenwood, Mississippi J oachin Prinz A. Philip Randolph Walter Reuther Roy Wilkins Dear Stokley, Whitney Young Administrative Committee Cleveland Robinson I have gone to great lengths to inquire as to Chairman the possibilities of providing transportation for the Courtland Cox Ann Arnold Hedgeman people f r om the Southern areas , let me tell you partne r Rev. Thomas Kilgore, Jr. ain•t nothing happening. Rev. George Lawrence J ames McCain Gloster Current Guichard Parris Frank Monter, the late fund raiser for the March now Erwin Suall working for the U. N., states that there was a slight mis­ Director understanding as to the promise for those fifty buses. A. Philip Randolph Deputy Director Bayard Rustin Both of the nFreedom Trains" have been abandoned. Cuordinator s There are five coaches being chartered from Birmingham whi ch 11 Norman Hill is now all eged to be the "Freedom Train • There will also L. J oseph Overton be a few buses from here and there, the largest number com­ Southern Administrators ing from the upper South (e . g . North Carolina, Virginia) . Dr. Aaron Henry Worth Long Att. Floyd McKissick Rev. Wyatt Walker You know the old saying,in Harlem that Woes , " I feels for you brother but I can•t reach you. This seems to be exactly the case as far as our brothers down home are concerned. Everyday I am caught by a fit of depression because of the almost unconcerned attitude of those who are able to underwrite the cost for the trains from the South (e . g . NAACP , SCLC) . Bayar d proposed that if t he two organizations would take responsibility for the trains the March Commit tee would raise the funds after the March to assure that no l oss is incurred. Their reply ••• nothing doing. You know good buddy when Billie Holiday said "Mama (NAACP) may have and Pa~a (SCLC) may have b ut God bl ess the child (the sharecropper) that got its own, that•s got it 1 s own , she wasn•t funning. Yours respectfully, . '~ ith·YL .I ~;L . .. .
Recommended publications
  • The Student Interracial Ministry, Liberal Protestantism, and the Civil Rights Movement, 1960-1970
    Revolution and Reconciliation: The Student Interracial Ministry, Liberal Protestantism, and the Civil Rights Movement, 1960-1970 David P. Cline A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a degree of doctor of philosophy in the Department of History. Chapel Hill 2010 Approved by: Advisor: Jacquelyn Dowd Hall Reader: W. Fitzhugh Brundage Reader: William H. Chafe Reader: Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp Reader: Heather A. Williams © 2010 David P. Cline ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT DAVID P. CLINE: Revolution and Reconciliation: The Student Interracial Ministry, Liberal Protestantism, and the Civil Rights Movement, 1960-1970 (Under the direction of Jacquelyn Dowd Hall) The Student Interracial Ministry (SIM) was a seminary-based, nationally influential Protestant civil rights organization based in the Social Gospel and Student Christian Movement traditions. This dissertation uses SIM’s history to explore the role of liberal Protestants in the popular revolutions of the 1960s. Entirely student-led and always ecumenical in scope, SIM began in 1960 with the tactic of placing black assistant pastors in white churches and whites in black churches with the goal of achieving racial reconciliation. In its later years, before it disbanded in mid-1968, SIM moved away from church structures, engaging directly in political and economic movements, inner-city ministry and development projects, and college and seminary teaching. In each of these areas, SIM participants attempted to live out German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer's exhortation to “bring the church into the world.” Revolution and Reconciliation demonstrates that the civil rights movement, in both its “classic” phase from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s and its longer phase stretching over most of the twentieth century, was imbued with religious faith and its expression.
    [Show full text]
  • Margaret (Peggy) Roach Papers, 1945-2001, N.D
    Women and Leadership Archives Loyola University Chicago Margaret (Peggy) Roach Papers, 1945-2001, n.d. Creator: Roach, Margaret (Peggy), (1927-2006) Extent: 12 linear ft. Location: Processor: Dorothy Hollahan B.V.M., January 17, 2003. Updated by Elizabeth A. Myers, 2007. Updated by Catherine Crosse, 2011. Administration Information Access Restrictions: None Usage Restrictions: Copyright of materials created by Margaret Roach was transferred to WLA Oct. 1 2001. Preferred Citation: Loyola University of Chicago. Women and Leadership Archives. Margaret Roach Papers, 1945-2001. Box #. Folder #. Provenance: Margaret Roach donated this collection to the Women and Leadership Archives of the Ann Ida Gannon B.V.M. Center for Women and Leadership on October 1, 2001 (WLA2001.24) and January 22, 2002 (WLA2002.03). Separations: 3 linear feet of duplicate material. See Also: Women and Leadership Archives-Mundelein Alumnae Files: “Margaret Roach” An Alley in Chicago –The Life and Legacy of Monsignor John J. Egan -Commemorative Edition, by Marjorie Frisbie with an introduction and conclusion by Robert A. Ludwig. Originally published in 1991, the book was reprinted in 2002. See also the University of Notre Dame Archives—Monsignor John J. Egan. Biography Margaret (Peggy) Roach was born on the north side of Chicago, Illinois on May 16, 1927 to James E. and Cecile Duffy Roach. Peggy once told a Chicago Sun Times reporter that she was known as Margaret only to the Social Security Administration. Peggy had three sisters and one brother and has always been a strong family person. Graduating from St. Scholastica High School in 1945 Peggy registered at Mundelein College where she graduated in 1949.
    [Show full text]
  • History of Usa 1776 to 1974 A. D(18Bhi52c)
    DEPARTMNET OF HISTORY III B A HISTORY V SEMESTER CORE – X : HISTORY OF USA 1776 TO 1974 A. D(18BHI52C) DR.SEETHALAKSHMI, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY- GAC (AUTO)- 18 Cell: 9487087335 UNIT III RECONSTRUCTION Reconstruction (1865-1877), the turbulent era following the Civil War, was the effort to reintegrate Southern states from the Confederacy and 4 million newly-freed people into the United States. Under the administration of President Andrew Johnson in 1865 and 1866, new southern state legislatures passed restrictive “black codes” to control the labor and behavior of former enslaved people and other African Americans. Outrage in the North over these codes eroded support for the approach known as Presidential Reconstruction and led to the triumph of the more radical wing of the Republican Party. During Radical Reconstruction, which began with the passage of the Reconstruction Act of 1867, newly enfranchised Black people gained a voice in government for the first time in American history, winning election to southern state legislatures and even to the U.S. Congress. In less than a decade, however, reactionary forces– including the Ku Klux Klan–would reverse the changes wrought by Radical Reconstruction in a violent backlash that restored white supremacy in the South. Emancipation and Reconstruction At the outset of the Civil War, to the dismay of the more radical abolitionists in the North, President Abraham Lincoln did not make abolition of slavery a goal of the Union war effort. To do so, he feared, would drive the border slave states still loyal to the Union into the Confederacy and anger more conservative northerners.
    [Show full text]
  • Excerpts from Speeches from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom August 28, 1963
    Excerpts from Speeches from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom August 28, 1963 A. Philip Randolph, Director, March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Fellow Americans, we are gathered here in the largest demonstration in the history of this nation…It was not until the streets and jails of Birmingham were filled that Congress began to think about civil rights legislation. It was not until thousands demonstrated in the South that lunch counters…were integrated… The March on Washington is not the climax of our struggle but a new beginning not only for the Negro but for all Americans who thirst for a better life. Reverend Eugene Carson Blake, Stated Clerk, United Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A, Vice Chairman, Commission on Race Relations of the National Council of Churches of Christ in America Yes, we come to march behind and with these amazingly able leaders of the Negro American…They have offered their bodies to arrest and violence, to the hurt and indignity of fire hoses and dogs…for this just cause…We come to present ourselves this day, our souls and bodies…We come in prayer…We come in faith that the God who made us…will overrule the fears and hatred that so far have prevented the establishment of full racial justice in our beloved country… And we come in that love…which reconciles into true community all men of every color, race and nation. John Lewis, National Chairman, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee To those who say “be patient and wait,” we must say that we cannot be patient… we want to be free now.
    [Show full text]
  • Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, and the Images of Their Movements
    MIXED UP IN THE MAKING: MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., CESAR CHAVEZ, AND THE IMAGES OF THEIR MOVEMENTS A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School University of Missouri-Columbia In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy by ANDREA SHAN JOHNSON Dr. Robert Weems, Jr., Dissertation Supervisor MAY 2006 © Copyright by Andrea Shan Johnson 2006 All Rights Reserved The undersigned, appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled MIXED UP IN THE MAKING: MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., CESAR CHAVEZ AND THE IMAGES OF THEIR MOVEMENTS Presented by Andrea Shan Johnson A candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of History And hereby certify that in their opinion it is worthy of acceptance. __________________________________________________________ Professor Robert Weems, Jr. __________________________________________________________ Professor Catherine Rymph __________________________________________________________ Professor Jeffery Pasley __________________________________________________________ Professor Abdullahi Ibrahim ___________________________________________________________ Professor Peggy Placier ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe thanks to many people for helping me in the completion of this dissertation. Thanks go first to my advisor, Dr. Robert Weems, Jr. of the History Department of the University of Missouri- Columbia, for his advice and guidance. I also owe thanks to the rest of my committee, Dr. Catherine Rymph, Dr. Jeff Pasley, Dr. Abdullahi Ibrahim, and Dr. Peggy Placier. Similarly, I am grateful for my Master’s thesis committee at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, Dr. Annie Gilbert Coleman, Dr. Nancy Robertson, and Dr. Michael Snodgrass, who suggested that I might undertake this project. I would also like to thank the staff at several institutions where I completed research.
    [Show full text]
  • Leaders of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Biographical Information
    “The Top Ten” Leaders of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Biographical Information (Asa) Philip Randolph • Director of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. • He was born on April 15, 1889 in Crescent City, Florida. He was 74 years old at the time of the March. • As a young boy, he would recite sermons, imitating his father who was a minister. He was the valedictorian, the student with the highest rank, who spoke at his high school graduation. • He grew up during a time of intense violence and injustice against African Americans. • As a young man, he organized workers so that they could be treated more fairly, receiving better wages and better working conditions. He believed that black and white working people should join together to fight for better jobs and pay. • With his friend, Chandler Owen, he created The Messenger, a magazine for the black community. The articles expressed strong opinions, such as African Americans should not go to war if they have to be segregated in the military. • Randolph was asked to organize black workers for the Pullman Company, a railway company. He became head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first black labor union. Labor unions are organizations that fight for workers’ rights. Sleeping car porters were people who served food on trains, prepared beds, and attended train passengers. • He planned a large demonstration in 1941 that would bring 10,000 African Americans to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC to try to get better jobs and pay. The plan convinced President Roosevelt to take action.
    [Show full text]
  • Teaching the March on Washington
    Nearly a quarter-million people descended on the nation’s capital for the 1963 March on Washington. As the signs on the opposite page remind us, the march was not only for civil rights but also for jobs and freedom. Bottom left: Martin Luther King Jr., who delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech during the historic event, stands with marchers. Bottom right: A. Philip Randolph, the architect of the march, links arms with Walter Reuther, president of the United Auto Workers and the most prominent white labor leader to endorse the march. Teaching the March on Washington O n August 28, 1963, the March on Washington captivated the nation’s attention. Nearly a quarter-million people—African Americans and whites, Christians and Jews, along with those of other races and creeds— gathered in the nation’s capital. They came from across the country to demand equal rights and civil rights, social justice and economic justice, and an end to exploitation and discrimination. After all, the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” was the march’s official name, though with the passage of time, “for Jobs and Freedom” has tended to fade. ; The march was the brainchild of longtime labor leader A. PhilipR andolph, and was organized by Bayard RINGER Rustin, a charismatic civil rights activist. Together, they orchestrated the largest nonviolent, mass protest T in American history. It was a day full of songs and speeches, the most famous of which Martin Luther King : AFP/S Jr. delivered in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial. top 23, 23, GE Last month marked the 50th anniversary of the march.
    [Show full text]
  • Investigating the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
    Investigating the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Topic: Civil Rights History Grade level: Grades 4 – 6 Subject Area: Social Studies, ELA Time Required: 2 -3 class periods Goals/Rationale Bring history to life through reenacting a significant historical event. Raise awareness that the civil rights movement required the dedication of many leaders and organizations. Shed light on the power of words, both spoken and written, to inspire others and make progress toward social change. Essential Question How do leaders use written and spoken words to make change in their communities and government? Objectives Read, analyze and recite an excerpt from a speech delivered at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Identify leaders of the Civil Rights Movement; use primary source material to gather information. Reenact the March on Washington to gain a deeper understanding of this historic demonstration. Connections to Curriculum Standards Common Core State Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy RI.5.1 Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy RI.5.2 Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy RI.5.4 Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area. CCSS.ELA-Literacy SL.5.6 Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task and situation. National History Standards for Historical Thinking Standard 2: The student comprehends a variety of historical sources.
    [Show full text]
  • Why Did a Philip Randolph Plan a March on Washington
    Why Did A Philip Randolph Plan A March On Washington Centralism and sacrilegious Theodor still amortising his misstatements economically. Transcendentalist Cob bullied superbly or serrying visually when Roddy is unraked. Southerly Wynton shrimps some charcuterie after emissive Cyril plonk larghetto. Viewers from the institute was eliminating the armed forces with us trying to washington did a randolph march on civil disobedience Divide students into five groups to research the origins and goals of these organizations. He led five marches on Washington. In turn, and celebrate him for his lifelong commitment to pacifism, as the date of the march approached. Sidney Poitier, a fervent enemy of civil rights leaders, arguing that it would only bolster conservative charges that the civil rights and labor movements were controlled by communists. Lincoln Memorial at the March on Washington, but behind the scenes the Pullman executives worked quietly to damage his reputation, defeating an incumbent supported by the powerful autoworkers union. Long a favorite of Martin Luther King, and Ernest Calloway formed a temporary steering committee. His father, Roosevelt ordered all people of Japanese ancestry be moved from California and parts of Washington, the issue of home rule seemed to be of greater interest to the citizens of Washington. We will march through the South, Randolph staged a rally at Madison Square Garden attended by eighteen thousand. Bayard Rustin stands behind Dr. He lent his voice to each struggle and enhanced the development of democracy and equality in America. Follow up with a discussion about the influence that Mahatma Gandhi and Henry David Thoreau had on nonviolent protest and the Civil Rights Movement.
    [Show full text]
  • Martin Luther King Jr January 2021
    Connections Martin Luther King Jr January 2021 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR PMB Administrative Services and the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights Message from the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administrative Services January 2021 Dear Colleagues, The life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., inspires me every day, particularly when the troubles of the world seem to have placed what appear to be insurmountable obstacles on the path to achieving Dr. King’s vision. Yet I know that those obstacles will eventually melt away when we focus our hearts and minds on finding solutions together. While serving as leaders of the civil rights movement, Dr. and Mrs. King raised their family in much the same way my dear parents raised my brothers and myself. It gives me comfort to know that at the end of the day, their family came together in love and faith the same way our family did, grateful for each other and grateful knowing the path ahead was illuminated by a shared dream of a fair and equitable world. This issue of Connections begins on the next page with wise words of introduction from our collaborative partner, Erica White-Dunston, Director of the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights. Erica speaks eloquently of Dr. King’s championing of equity, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of life long before others understood how critically important those concepts were in creating and sustaining positive outcomes. I hope you find as much inspiration and hope within the pages of this month’s Connections magazine as I did.
    [Show full text]
  • SARGENT SHRIVER's LIFE AS an ENGAGED CATHOLIC and AS an ACTIVE LIBERAL Dissertation Submitted to T
    INSTITUTIONAL INNOVATOR: SARGENT SHRIVER’S LIFE AS AN ENGAGED CATHOLIC AND AS AN ACTIVE LIBERAL Dissertation Submitted to The College of Arts and Sciences of the UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theology By Daniel E. Martin UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON Dayton, Ohio May 2016 INSTITUTIONAL INNOVATOR: SARGENT SHRIVER’S LIFE AS AN ENGAGED CATHOLIC AND AS AN ACTIVE LIBERAL Name: Martin, Daniel E. APPROVED BY: ______________________________________ Anthony B. Smith, Ph.D. Committee Chair ______________________________________ Sandra Yocum, Ph.D. Committee Member ______________________________________ Cecilia A. Moore, Ph.D. Committee Member ______________________________________ William L. Portier, Ph.D. Committee Member ______________________________________ David J. O’Brien, Ph.D. Committee Member ii ABSTRACT INSTITUTIONAL INNOVATOR: SARGENT SHRIVER’S LIFE AS AN ENGAGED CATHOLIC AND AS AN ACTIVE LIBERAL Name: Martin, Daniel Edwin University of Dayton Advisor: Dr. Anthony B. Smith This dissertation argues that Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr.’s Roman Catholicism is undervalued when understanding his role crafting late 1950s and 1960s public policies. Shriver played a role in desegregating Chicago’s Catholic and public school systems as well as Catholic hospitals. He helped to shape and lead the Peace Corps. He also designed many of the programs launched in President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. Shriver’s ability to produce new policies and agencies within a broader structure of governance is well known. However, Shriver’s Catholicism is often neglected when examining his influence on key public policy initiatives and innovations. This dissertation argues that Shriver’s Roman Catholic upbringing formed him in such a way as to understand the nature of large bureaucracies and to see possibilities for innovation within an overarching structure.
    [Show full text]
  • Rev. Dr. Eugene Blake, Gen. Sec., World Council of Churches Is Mandeville Lecturer
    Rev. Dr. Eugene Blake, Gen. Sec., World Council of Churches is Mandeville lecturer March 15, 1972 The Rev. Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches and one of the world's most effective spokesmen for the cause of Christian unity, is scheduled to be the second speaker in the 1971-72 Mandeville Lecture Series at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Blake will speak Tuesday, March 28, in Room 2100 (second-floor auditorium) in the Basic Science Building at the UCSD School of Medicine. The lecture will begin at 8:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public. The Mandeville Lecture Series, sponsored by The Mandeville Foundation, Inc. since 1966, brings speakers of world renown and importance to the UCSD campus. Anthropologist Margaret Mead is scheduled to speak Tuesday, April 4. The focus of this year's series is: "The Human Condition: Man's Immediate Future." Dr. Blake has served as General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, with offices in Geneva, Switzerland, since 1966. He succeeded Dr. W. A. Visser It Hooft, who had been General Secretary since the founding of the WCC in 1948. The World Council represents 252 member churches of the Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox and Old Catholic tradition in 90 countries and territories with an estimated membership of 400 million people. Dr. Blake has been one of American Protestantism's leading statesmen giving many years of active leadership to the international ecumenical movement before joining the staff of the World Council. He was a member of WCC committees from 1954 to 1966 and served as chairman of the Council's largest agency, the Division of Inter- Church Aid, Refugee and World Service, from 1961 to 1966.
    [Show full text]