A Visual History Of How The March On Washington Became One Of The Biggest Protests Ever

Next week marks the 50 year anniversary of the March on Washington, a monumental victory for civil rights in this country.

On August 28, 1963, an estimated 250,000 people gathered in the nation's capital, not in anger as many media outlets speculated at the time, but in peaceful protest.

Also known as the "March for Jobs and Freedom," the demonstration for African American's social and economic equality remains one of the largest in U.S. history — only surpassed the Million March Man and March for Women's Lives.

On the the day of the march, people of all races, genders, and ages appeared in Washington, D.C. carrying anti-segregation signs. Some even walked hundreds of miles. In anticipation of trouble, thousands of National Guardsmen greeted them. But everyone kept the peace. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famed "I Have A Dream Speech" midday in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

The March of Washington — dreamed up by six men, planned from a walk-up apartment in Harlem, funded by grassroots organizing — attracted national attention and accomplished great victories for both the civil rights movement and non-violent protest.