It wasn’t the first planned ‘March on Washington’

Labor leader and civil rights advocate A. Philip Randolph had threatened a “March for Freedom” on the National Mall in 1941 to pressure then-President Franklin Roosevelt to provide equal opportunity for defense jobs. Randolph hired Rustin to organize part of the march, which they felt was the only way to prompt action after numerous appeals.

It worked: The march was called off after Roosevelt established the Fair Employment Practices Committee, abolishing racial discrimination in hiring.