A look back at the March on Washington

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. waves to supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C. (AFP / AFP/Getty Images)

Aug. 15, 2013 11:27 AM PT

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a landmark moment in the Civil Rights movement best known for Martin Luther King Jr.’s captivating “I Have a Dream” speech. Follow Nation Now on Twitter and Facebook

Demonstrators link hands before the Lincoln Memorial, in a photo from the book “This Is the Day: The March on Washington.” (Estate of Leonard Freed - Magnum Photos / Getty Publications)

Civil rights leaders pose in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Pictured are, standing from left, director of the National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice Matthew Ahmann, Rabbi Joachim Prinz, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee leader John Lewis, Protestant minister Eugene Carson Blake, Congress of Racial Equality leader Floyd McKissick, and labor union leader Walter Reuther; sitting from left, National Urban League executive director Whitney Young, an unidentified man, labor union leader A. Philip Randolph, civil rights figurehead Martin Luther King Jr., and National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People leader Roy Wilkins. (PhotoQuest / Getty Images)

A demonstrator sounds off during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. (Leonard Freed / Getty Images)

A shot of the march’s massive crowds, from the book “This Is the Day: The March on Washington.” (Estate of Leonard Freed - Magnum Photos / Getty Publications)

The scene in front of the Lincoln Memorial, from the book “This Is the Day: The March on Washington.” (Estate of Leonard Freed - Magnum Photos / Getty Publications)

Bayard Rustin points to a map showing the path of the March on Washington during a news conference at the New York City headquarters. Months before the march declaration galvanized a quarter-million people, Rustin was planning all the essential details to keep the crowd orderly and engaged. (Anonymous / Associated Press)

This photograph was taken by famous photojournalist Leonard Freed as he documented the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. (Leonard Freed / Getty Images)

Demonstrators seen in a photo from the book “This Is the Day: The March on Washington.” (Estate of Leonard Freed - Magnum Photos / Getty Publications)

View of marchers as they walk along the National Mall during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in Washington, D.C. (PhotoQuest / Getty Images)

Marchers stand hand-in-hand during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. (Leonard Freed / Getty Images)

More than 200,000 civil rights participants of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on the Mall in Washington, D.C. (AFP/Getty Images)

The aftermath of the discarded signs and displays from the March on Washington, as seen in the book “This Is the Day: The March on Washington.” (Estate of Leonard Freed - Magnum Photos / Getty Publications)