REMEMBERING

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

2023 marks the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

At the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his most well-known speech: "I Have a Dream."

The event drew 250,000 people to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. At the time, it was the largest gathering of protesters in the district's history.

The march made specific demands in areas that are still relevant today: an end to racial segregation in public schools; meaningful civil rights legislation, including a law prohibiting racial discrimination in employment; protection of civil rights workers from police brutality; a $2 minimum wage for all workers (equivalent to $19.48 in 2023); and self-government for Washington, D.C., then governed by congressional committee.

DR. KING'S LEGACY

BY THE NUMBERS

1/15/29

20-30

Date Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta as "Michael Luther King, Jr."

Number of times Dr. King was arrested throughout the course of his civil rights work.

15

381

Age at which King graduated from high school.

Length, in days, of the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-56, led by Dr. King after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person.

17

Age at which he received his license to preach. He became an ordained minister at 19.

6 MILLION

12

Miles Dr. King traveled in the 11-year period between 1957-1968.

Number of years Dr. King led the Modern American Civil Rights Movement, from 1955 until his death in April 1968.

2,500

Times he spoke to audiences during that same period.

35

Dr. King's age when he won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the youngest recipient ever at the time.

$54,123

Value of the Nobel Prize money, of which he vowed to turn over "every penny" to the Civil Rights Movement.

17

Years that passed between the first proposed legislation requesting Dr. King's birthday become a national holiday and the first observance of his birthday as a national holiday (1/20/86).

1964

Year Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, making racial segregation illegal in the United States.

1965

Year Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, following the Voting Rights March from Selma to Montgomery, AL, led by Dr. King.

39

Dr. King's age at the time of his assassination on April 4, 1968.

Time Person of the Year

Posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom

Posthumous Congressional Gold Medal

1963

1977

2004

1964

Nobel Peace Prize

Martin Luther King Day made a national holiday, first observed in 1986

1983

2011

National MLK Memorial dedicated

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON?

Click here to watch a short video from The History Channel!

Make a career of humanity.

Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in."

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1959