For an extensive collection of primary sources and memories shared by civil rights movement veterans, see this page from CRMvet.org.

Books

Charles Euchner: Nobody Turn Me Around: A People’s History of the 1963 March on Washington.

William P. Jones: The March on Washington: Jobs, Freedom, and the Forgotten History of Civil Rights.

The Songs & Speeches of the March

Songs:

• Camilla Williams: National Anthem. (Audio.)
• Joan Baez: We shall overcome. (Video.)
• Mahalia Jackson: “I’ve been buked & I’ve been scorned,” and “How I got over.” (Video.)

Speeches, listed in the order given.

1. Preliminary speech, Josephine Baker. (Audio, article.)
2. Invocation, by Archbishop Patrick O’Boyle. (Text.)
3. Opening remarks by A. Philip Randolph, March Director. (Audio, text.)
4. Speech by Walter Reuther – UAW, AFL–CIO.
5. Speech by Roy Wilkins – NAACP. (Video)
6. Speech by John Lewis – SNCC. (Video, text, original unrevised text.)
7. Tribute to negro Women/brief comments by Daisy Bates. (Text.)  
8. Speech by Eugene Carson Blake – United Presbyterian Church and the National Council of Churches.
9. Speech by Floyd McKissick – CORE.
10. Speech by Whitney Young – National Urban League. (Audio.)
11. Speech by Mathew Ahmann – National Catholic Conference.
12. Speech by Rabbi Joachim Prinz – American Jewish Congress. (Video).
13. Martin Luther King: I Have a Dream: video, audio with transcript, graphic multimedia version.
14. Bayard Rustin reads the demands of the march. (Audio; text of the demands.)
15. A. Philip Randolph reads the march’s pledge. (Audio, 4:26 minutes in.)
16. Closing benediction by Benjamin Mays. (Partial video, audio 7:08 minutes in).

Primary Sources

See primary source collections at CRMvet.org here and here, and at SNCC Digital here.

Flyer for the March on Washington.

Demands of the March on Washington.

Bayard Rustin: The Meaning of the March on Washington.

Malcolm X: The Farce on Washington.

CNN: Collection of color photos from the march.

Educational Radio Network coverage of the March on Washington.

Videos

Democracy Now! Civil Rights Pioneer Gloria Richardson, 91, on How Women Were Silenced at 1963 March on Washington.

Smithsonian Magazine: An Oral History of the March on Washington: Americans who marched on Washington 60 years ago under a blazing sun recall the day they were part of a turning point in history.

The U.S. National Archives: The March in Washington.

The Washington Post: An oral history of the March on Washington, 60 years after MLK’s dream.

Articles

Timothy Bella: At 92, MLK’s speechwriter confronts a new ‘insane’ moment in U.S. history.

Jamelle Bouie: The Forgotten Radicalism of the March on Washington.

Gillian Brockell: At the 1963 March on Washington, civil rights leaders asked John Lewis to tone his speech down.

Kyle Brooks: The Morning After: Black Women and the March on Washington.

Melanie Campbell & Rebekah Caruthers: These Black Women Were Behind The March On Washington.

CNN: Kennedy White House had jitters ahead of 1963 March on Washington.

Code Switch: What The March On Washington Called For, And What We Got.

Julia Conley & John Light: Meet the 1963 March on Washington Organizers.

CRMvet.org: The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Joshua Clark Davis: We Knew the FBI Spied on the March on Washington. They Weren’t the Only Ones. Police from as far away as Alabama were watching.

Ashley Farmer: The Long History of Black Women’s Exclusion in Historic Marches in Washington.

Eric Foner: Martin Luther King’s Dream at 60: King offered Americans the choice between acting in accordance with the constitution and resistance—often violent—to change.  In many ways, we face the same choice today.

David Garrow: The Long March.

Jessica Goldstein: March on Washington had one female speaker: Josephine Baker.

David Greenberg: How John Lewis Saved the March on Washington.

Robert Greene II: On The Sixtieth Anniversary of the March on Washington.

John Leland: The 1963 March on Washington Changed America. Its Roots Were in Harlem.

MLK Institute profile of the March on Washington.

Marc H. Morial: 60 years after March on Washington, America needs honest talk on racial equality: Overt racial discrimination has been outlawed, but the economic demands of the march — for jobs and a livable minimum wage — are unmet.

NAACP profile of the March on Washington.

The New Yorker: Dream Songs: The Music of the March on Washington.

NPR:

• Behind March On Washington’s ‘Sunny Reputation,’ A Deep Fear.
• People who participated in the March on Washington remember it on its 60th anniversary.

Emily Olson: Thousands march to mark the 60th anniversary of MLK’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.

Rosanita Ratcliff: How to Honor the Environmental Legacy of the March on Washington: Both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and A. Philip Randolph passionately tied the fight against racism to the larger war for economic opportunity, workers’ rights, and environmental justice.

Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff: During the 1963 March on Washington, these Black girls were locked up in Georgia.

Michael E. Ruane: MLK’s ‘dream’ speech goes on display at Smithsonian for 60th anniversary.

Jennifer Scanlon: Where Were the Women in the March on Washington? How men in the Civil Rights movement erased women from its ranks.

Ellie Silverman: King family returning for March on Washington’s 60th anniversary.

Chloe H. Smith: Finding Women at the 1963 March on Washington.

SNCC Digital Gateway profile of the March on Washington.

SNCC Legacy Project: In commemoration of the March On Washington – Reflecting on 60 Years.

Brooke Sopelsa & Jay Valle: Civil rights leader’s legacy remembered on March on Washington’s 60th anniversary: The 1963 march wouldn’t have been possible without Black gay activist Bayard Rustin.

Matthew Taub: Sold: Papers From the Planning of the 1963 March on Washington. They tell a ground-level story of how peaceful movements led to social change, and how much remains to be done.

Krissah Thompson: In March on Washington, white activists were largely overlooked but strategically essential.

The Washington Post: Celebrities who joined the March on Washington.

See Also:

Resources on the March on Washington Movement, 1941-1946.

Resources on Martin Luther King.

Resources on A. Philip Randolph.

Resources on Bayard Rustin.