Warren K. Leffler, courtesy of Library of Congress |
You probably know that Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech while standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
However, what you probably did not know is that women barely had a role. Not only did they march on Independence Avenue while the men marched down Pennsylvania Avenue, but according to CNN:
It was only after pressure from Anna Arnold Hedgeman, the only woman on the national planning committee, that a "Tribute to Negro Women Fighters for Freedom" was added to the official program.
It took further convincing to have a woman lead it.
Daisy Bates spoke in the place of Myrlie Evers, the widow of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers. Bates, president of the Arkansas NAACP who played a key role in integrating schools in Little Rock, told the crowd: "We will walk until we are free, until we can walk to any school and take our children to any school in the United States. And we will sit-on and we will kneel-in and we will lie-in if necessary until every Negro in America can vote. This we pledge to the women of America."
Women had been central to the civil rights movement -- Diane Nash, Ella Baker, Dorothy Height and many others -- but were only included in the program that day after one woman spoke up.
What's that saying?
Oh yes, "Well-behaved women seldom make history."
I did not know this. Thank you very much for sharing.
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