Martin Luther King Jr. and the March on Washington

Martin Luther King Jr. and the March on Washington — page 3
Civil Rights and the Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial was built as a tribute to Abraham Lincoln’s belief in freedom for all people regardless of their skin color It became an important site of the civil rights movement In 1939 singer Marian Anderson performed there when she was not allowed to sing at Constitution Hall in Washington DC because she was African American The 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage and 1963 March on Washington were also held at the Lincoln Memorial 6 These people had come to Washington DC from almost every state in the nation They were a mix of cultures ages and religions Some people were African American others were white They were young and old and came from different religious backgrounds All of them had come to take part in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Leading up to the March One hundred years had passed since President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing some African Americans from slavery However