The March Revisited, by Rowland Scherman

Rowland Scherman was the first photographer for the Peace Corps in 1961, documenting the work of volunteers all over the world. His photos helped define the image of the agency we know today.

He became a free lance photographer in 1963. His photographs appeared in Life, Look, National Geographic, Time, Paris Match, and Playboy among many others. He photographed many of the iconic musical, cultural and political events of the 60’s including the 1963 Newport Folk Festival, the March on Washington, DC, the Beatles first US concert and Woodstock.

At the August 28, 1963 March on Washington, final speaker Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech in which he called for an end to racism and racial segregation. As we honor Dr. King today, in his Photographer’s Newsletter, published on January 14, Rowland revisits the March on Washington, sharing some epic photos from that day.

I was inspired by Dan Rather’s take on the importance of the March on Washington and its relevance in today’s world events. Dan touched heavily on the music of Peter Paul and Mary’s rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ In The Wind,” and how it importantly underlined everything Martin Luther King was telling us all with his famous speech.

At the time of the March, I was a freelance photographer working out of DC, and had, only a few months before, completed my Peace Corps volunteering stint.

The editors of United States Information Agency, just around the corner from PC headquarters, had asked me to be the official photographer for the March. I didn’t know much about what it was about, but of course I said sure. They required that they were to own all the negatives I made that day, which I though was also fair—as they doubled my day rate. I said sure to that also, not knowing anything about copyrights. “Let us see and feel what it was like to be there,” was what they said they wanted.

I got to the mall early that day. It seemed as if things were going to be a lot bigger than anyone thought.”

Read more and see Rowland’s great images on A Photographer’s Newsletter.

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