Estate of Leonard Freed / Magnum Photos (Brigitte Freed)

On August 28, 1963 more than 250,000 people gathered at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to mount a peaceful protest demanding equal rights and economic equality for African Americans. Led by civil rights organizations, The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and became the iconic expression of social protest that inspired the women’s rights movement, and other disenfranchised groups.

Estate of Leonard Freed / Magnum Photos (Brigitte Freed)

This Is the Day: The March on Washington (Getty Publications 2013) presents Magnum photographer Leonard Freed’s visual testimony of the event that culminated in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s prophetic “I Have a Dream” speech. The photographs were chosen from hundreds Freed made in the nation’s capital that day—before, during, and after the march. They present wide-angle views of marchers overflowing the National Mall, group portraits of people straining to see the speakers, and close-ups of individual faces filled with hope and yearning.

Estate of Leonard Freed / Magnum Photos (Brigitte Freed)

NYPL Panel: Deborah Willis in conversation with Michael Eric Dyson, Paul Farber, Eli Reed, Jamel Shabazz and Brigitte Freed

This illustrious panel discusses the role photography played during the civil rights movement, the photographic legacy of the march, and how image makers such as Freed have influenced a new generation of photojournalists who continue to use their cameras to raise awareness of social injustices. Special guest Brigitte Freed, widow of Leonard Freed also joins the discussion.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013 @ 6 pm ET

Margaret Liebman Berger Forum
Room 227 (2nd Floor)

The New York Public Library
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
5th Avenue at 42nd Street
New York, NY 10018

See more of Freed’s photos from the march in this Washingtonpost.com gallery.

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