NCBCP Headlines
Women played a large role in putting together the 1963 march. Among others, actor/singer Lena Horne brought key media attention to the event, while Dorothy Height was a major organizer. Countless women volunteers helped coordinate food and hotel accommodations for the marchers. However, while women may have been key players behind the scenes, few were allowed to speak at the Lincoln Memorial program, hough several sang, including Marian Anderson (seen about 2/3 through this historical video), Joan Baez (with Bob Dylan), Odetta, Mary Travers (as part of Peter, Paul and Mary) and Mahalia Jackson. When the organizers were putting together the speaker’s list, not a single woman was on it. Eventually, a “Tribute to Negro Women Fighters for Freedom” was included, featuring such civil right greats as Rosa Parks, Daisy Bates and Diane Bevel. However, according to one of the speakers—Gloria Richardson, now 91—women were pushed to the side, sometimes literally. Read the full story at MsMagazine.com
