A Day Like No Other: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington
Roosevelt H. Carter (1926–1981)

Early on the morning of August 28, 1963, photographer Roosevelt Carter boarded a bus in Columbus, Ohio, with a local church group and headed for Washington, D.C., to participate in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Like thousands of others across the country, Carter felt the need to answer the call from A. Philip Randolph, Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil rights leaders, who had banded together with religious organizations to peacefully demonstrate and address the issues facing the underprivileged and unemployed.

Carter brought along his camera and captured everything from the departure in Columbus and the arrival in Washington to the faces along the march route, the famous personalities in the crowd, and the opening speeches. At some point during the presentations, he stopped taking photographs and most likely devoted his full attention to what was being said. Carter offers a personal look at the march and its participants, a view through the eyes of one who was more a participant than an observer.