Library Commemorates the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington

STAMFORD, August 2, 2023 – The Ferguson Library will host a variety of special events to mark the 60 years since the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, when a quarter of a million people rallied to demand an end to segregation as well as fair wages and economic justice, voting rights and civil rights protections.

The special programming is presented in partnership with 100 Black Men of Stamford; Domus; Fairfield County (CT) Chapter, The Links, Incorporated; the Interfaith Council of Southwestern Connecticut; the Mayor’s Multicultural Council; Stamford Community; and Stamford NAACP.

The commemoration is already underway with the exhibit Who Can Vote? A Brief History of Voting Rights in the United States. The display, on view at the Main Library through August 21, examines voting rights in the context of the U.S. Constitution and the interplay between the states and federal government in determining who has been allowed to vote through history. A reproduction of the original March on Washington program will also be on display starting August 14 at the Main Library and South End and Harry Bennett branches.

Activities begin August 13 with an opening ceremony that will feature an interfaith panel discussion, a performance by the Union Baptist Church Choir, and a screening of the digitally restored James Blue 1964 documentary, The March.

Continuing every day during library hours starting August 14, the Main Library and the Harry Bennett Branch will present a continuous screening of the PBS documentary, Eyes on the Prize, the definitive story of the civil rights era from the point of view of ordinary men and women whose extraordinary actions launched a movement.

Focusing on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the Main Library and the South End Branch will host a screening and family discussion of March On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World on August 19 and August 26 respectively. The animated video, based on 2008 picture book of the same title by Christine King Farris, gives a firsthand witness account of the March on Washington.

The highlight of the library’s March on Washington programming is Make History Your Own, to be offered August 23 at the Main Library and August 26 at the South End Branch. Here children can build their own African American history book using stickers that depict dozens of civil rights icons as well as pioneers in government, science and technology, business, the arts and more.

Rounding out the March on Washington events are closing ceremony featuring music and poetry on August 27, and two screenings of the 2013 documentary, The March: The Story of the Greatest March in American History, narrated by Denzel Washington, on August 28, the anniversary of the March on Washington. Both will be held at the Main Library.

Registration is required for all events at fergusonlibrary.org/events.

For more information, call 203 351-8221.