{"id":66641,"date":"2013-08-27T11:13:53","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T15:13:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/?p=66641"},"modified":"2013-08-27T11:13:53","modified_gmt":"2013-08-27T15:13:53","slug":"umw-bell-rings-to-observe-march-on-washington-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2013\/08\/27\/umw-bell-rings-to-observe-march-on-washington-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"UMW Bell Rings to Observe March on Washington Anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"

The University of Mary Washington observed the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington on Wednesday, August 28. The march and rally, which took place on August 28, 1963, brought together more than 200,000 people on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and became known as a watershed moment for the civil rights movement.<\/p>\n

\"People<\/a>
People walk past a stone marking the spot where Dr. Martin Luther King made his 1963 speech on the steps on the Lincoln Memorial. The 50th anniversary of of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech was marked on August 28. King made his speech during a rally at the memorial. (Photo by Mark Wilson\/Getty Images\/Courtesy of istockphoto)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At 3 p.m., the bell tolled on the Fredericksburg campus, joining the nationwide \u201cLet Freedom Ring<\/a>\u201d celebration. Throughout the day, students, faculty and staff recited excerpts from Martin Luther King, Jr.\u2019s \u201cI Have a Dream Speech\u201d in a video that appeared on television screens across the campus.<\/a> The anniversary march and presidential speech in Washington, D.C., was broadcast at the Underground on the Fredericksburg campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe march was a momentous occasion during the civil rights movement, because it was attended by so many followed by the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,\u201d said Leah Cox, special assistant for diversity and inclusion. \u201cThis moment was further enhanced by Dr. King’s speech at the Lincoln Memorial. Fifty years later we are still working to achieve social justice for many groups with the issues that are now confronting our nation. It’s a renewal of our commitment to achieving equality.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UMW commemoration also honored the work of civil rights leader and former UMW Professor James L. Farmer Jr., who founded the Congress of Racial Equality. One of the \u201cBig Four,\u201d Farmer worked closely with King on nonviolent protests to eliminate racial inequality. On the day King delivered his famous speech, Farmer was in jail for \u201cdisturbing the peace\u201d in Plaquemine, La. \u00a0He sent his own speech to the March on Washington, which was read by a CORE aide: \u201cWe will not stop,\u201d Farmer wrote, \u201cuntil the dogs stop biting us in the South and the rats stop biting us in the North.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farmer taught the history of the civil rights movement to Mary Washington students for about a dozen years before his retirement in 1998. That year, President Bill Clinton awarded Farmer the Presidential Medal of Freedom.<\/p>\n