Those who were there recall King's impassioned words

By MATT BIXENSTINE
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
HE REV. EDGAR FISHER JR. COMPARES THE atmosphere surrounding that day 40 years ago to attending a Super Bowl hosted by the home team.
"It had a penetrating effect," he said. "It really affected everyone there. It left us feeling a sense of relief and accomplishment."
The Rev. Mr. Fisher stood about 125 feet away as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his stirring "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before an estimated 250,000 people. The racially diverse crowd had converged on Washington, D.C. for a civil rights demonstration in support of what would become the Civil Rights Act in 1964.
Aug. 28 marks the 40th anniversary of King's speech, but Mr. Fisher, 59, remembers that historic day and "spiritual experience" vividly. The minister at Canaan Missionary Baptist Church in Youngstown attended King's speech as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a civil rights group led by Stokely Carmichael.
Hope for the nation
King had prepared notes for his speech, but ultimately let his emotions guide his words, Mr. Fisher said. He spoke of his hope for a nation in which "little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers."
"He had a manuscript and he went so far by it and then pushed it aside," said Mr. Fisher, of Warren. "That speech stands out more than any speech I've ever heard. That was the greatest speech -- greater than any State of the Union."
On that day in 1963 -- the 100th anniversary year of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation -- demonstrators participated in the "March on Washington" that went between the Capitol Building and the Lincoln Memorial. The march began at 11 a.m., with King and others addressing the crowd that afternoon. King spoke about 3 p.m. to the masses surrounding the reflecting pool.
Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) is the only surviving member of the "Big Six" civil rights leaders (the others were King, A. Phillip Randolph, James Farmer, Whitney Young and Roy Wilkins) who had met with President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and issued a call for the march.
"In that meeting when we called the march, we expected 40, maybe 50,000 people," Lewis said. "More than 250,000 showed up -- black and white, young and old, rich and poor."
According to an Aug. 28, 1963 article in The Vindicator, at least 150 participants in the demonstration represented civil rights groups from greater Youngstown, and several "Youngstown, O" banners were displayed during the march.
Crowd was peaceful
Despite the massive turnout, both the march and ensuing speeches remained remarkably peaceful, said the Rev. Jim Ray, 73, of Poland, who is minister of visitation at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Boardman.
"One of my most memorable images of that day is [when] one of my good buddies stepped on the hand of a black man, and I thought, 'Here's trouble,'" said the Rev. Mr. Ray, who is white. "But the black man said, 'excuse me' as if he was at fault for having his hand there.
"That moment told us somehow the whole day would be OK."
Mr. Ray attended the March on Washington as a campus minister at the University of Illinois. After driving through the night with two carloads of people from Decatur, Ill., he arrived in Washington around 7 a.m. Aug. 28.
He was greeted by the sound of the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary in concert, the sight of troops armed with rifles and gas masks and the smell of excitement in the air.
"I had never seen that many black people gathered in one place in my life," he said.
Mr. Ray said hearing King speak was worth feeling claustrophobic among the masses of demonstrators.
Life-changing event
"That speech told us a vision of how the world should be," Mr. Ray said. "That event changed my entire life -- I have not been the same kind of person since Aug. 28, 1963."
Ben Frazier, 73, rode a bus to attend the speech as a grievance committeeman for United Steelworkers of America Local 2163 at Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube Co. Although he stood too far back to hear King's speech very well, it still left an impression on him.
Frazier, now labor and industry chairman for the NAACP Youngstown branch, did not immediately grasp the day's significance.
"As a young man, I didn't think too much of it at the time," he said. "But over the years, I realized what that march meant to me and a whole lot of other people in this country."
After the speeches had ended, Lewis and the rest of the "Big Six" again met with Kennedy in the Oval Office.
"He stood in the door and told us how moved he was by the march," Lewis said. "That was the last time I saw President Kennedy."
Lewis, then 23, had also stood in front of the "sea of humanity" that day as one of the speakers. But he said neither he nor any of the others captivated the demonstrators as King had.
"There was nothing ever like that before," Lewis said. "It was a beautiful scene to behold."
mbixenstine@vindy.com
XCONTRIBUTOR: Peter Milliken, Vindicator staff writer.