In this activity, students work in small groups to learn about one of the speakers at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. They then reenact the March and recite an excerpt from one of the speeches delivered that day. Includes speech excerpts and biographical information about each speaker.

On September 15, 1963, a bomb at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama killed four young Black girls. In this lesson, students act as civil rights advisors to the president, examining a variety of responses to the bombing, assessing what different groups believe should be done, and considering the strengths and weaknesses of the president’s response.