One march worker fell asleep during MLK’s speech

Back in 1963, college student Patricia Worthy took a job answering phones for the March on Washington’s planning office. She had 10 phone lines to answer, and they rang from the time she walked in until she left for the day.

“I recall one day I’ll never forget, I heard someone say, ‘Where is this young lady who handles the phone?’ And finally I looked up, and there he was — Dr. King — and he said, ‘I want to meet this young lady. She has put me on the hold twice, and hung up on me once, and I want to know who she is.’ “

Worthy said she was “so embarrassed,” but then the civil rights icon gave her a hug.

By the day of the march, she was so tired, she dozed off and accidentally slept through the historic march and the “I Have a Dream” speech.

Everything worked out for her in the end: Worthy had a successful career in law and academia.