08/28/2026
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place 63 years ago today, on August 28, 1963. An estimated 250,000 protestors gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., to demand civil rights for Black Americans. Jewish participation at the march was substantial. The Jewish Labor Committee, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, and numerous other Jewish organizations mobilized large delegations. The first photograph shows a bus from New York to Washington, D.C., chartered by the American Jewish Congress.
At the protest, Rabbi Joachim Prinz, president of the American Jewish Congress and a refugee from N**i Germany, delivered a profound address warning of the dangers of silence in the face of injustice and cruelty. Prinz said: “Our ancient history began with slavery and the yearning for freedom…It is for these reasons that it is not merely sympathy and compassion for the black people of America that motivates us.” It is also a “sense of complete identification and solidarity born of our own painful historic experience.” Following Prinz’s words, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his renowned “I Have a Dream” speech, where he encouraged America to abandon the “dark and desolate valley of segregation” to embrace the “sunlit path of racial justice.” The third photograph shows Prinz and King sharing a press The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place 63 years ago today, on August 28, 1963. An estimated 250,000 protestors gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., to demand civil rights for Black Americans. Jewish participation at the march was substantial. The American Jewish Congress, The Jewish Labor Committee, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, and numerous other Jewish organizations mobilized large delegations. The first and second photographs show several of the buses chartered to transport participants from New York to Washington, D.C.
At the protest, Rabbi Joachim Prinz, president of the AJ Congress and a refugee from N**i Germany, delivered a profound address warning of the dangers of silence in the face of injustice and cruelty. Prinz said: "The most important thing that I learned in my life and under those tragic circumstances was that bigotry and hatred are not the most urgent problem. The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful and the most tragic problem is silence." Following Prinz’s words, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his renowned “I Have a Dream” speech, where he encouraged America to abandon the “dark and desolate valley of segregation” to embrace the “sunlit path of racial justice.” The third photograph shows Prinz at the press podium with organizer Bayard Rustin.
The third image shows the front of the march with Dr. King arm in arm with civil rights leaders, Joachim Prinz second from King on the right. A massive crowd supports them from behind carrying signs reading, "We March for Jobs for All Now," "We Demand Voting Rights Now," and "End Segregated Rules in Public Schools."
A new exhibition and companion podcast, ALL WE HAVE STANDING BETWEEN US, offer a timely opportunity to reflect on the past and consider the future of democracy in America. EPISODE 5: IT OUGHT TO BE POSSIBLE focuses on Jewish involvement in the Civil Rights Movement and features historians Andrew Sperling and Britt Tevis. Available now on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.
Records of The American Jewish Congress (I-77)
