The March

"The March" is a documentary by filmmaker James Blue (1930-1980) about the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August of 1963. Blue filmed participants as they prepared for the March on Washington in their home cities, followed them as they traveled to Washington, and recorded some of the events on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Note: this is a partial version of the film that does not include Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech.

00:05Copy video clip URL Tape label. 

0:22Copy video clip URL Introduction: “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m Carl T. Rowan. As the new director of the United States Information Agency, I have the privilege to present to you a dramatic document of man’s continuing search for dignity. It is a film about the great civil rights march in Washington, a moving exercise of one of the most cherished rights in a free society, the right of peaceful protest. I believe that this demonstration of both whites and Negroes, supported by the federal government and by both President Johnson and the late President Kennedy, is a profound example of the procedures unfettered men use to broaden the horizons of freedom and deepen the meaning of personal liberty.”

1:16Copy video clip URL Montage of civil rights activity. People walking, group singing. 

2:27Copy video clip URL “The March.” Group singing “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize.”

3:41Copy video clip URL Narrator begins to speak about the places that protestors traveled from for the march. Narrator explains some of the injustices Black citizens faced over footage of protestors preparing. Footage of people making sandwiches. Another group singing. People pass out buttons. People riding on the bus. Man tests the microphone and the stage is set up near the Washington Monument. People paint signs.

11:16Copy video clip URL August 28, 1963. Aerial footage of the Washington monument. Train arrives in a station. People disembark with signs and buttons, singing. People on buses. Crowds at the protest. Joan Baez singing. People marching. Odetta singing. People marching with signs. A man speaks, applauding that protestors for their orderly and peaceful march. 

21:02Copy video clip URL Marian Anderson sings “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.”

23:40Copy video clip URL Cut to black.

23:55Copy video clip URL Tape ends.