THE HISTORY

On August 5, 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and a diverse group of 700 civil rights activists, religious leaders and courageous community members from across the city marched to Chicago’s Marquette Park. As part of the Chicago Freedom Movement, King led this march to protest housing segregation. They confronted thousands of violent protesters who hurled rocks, bottles and carried denigrating signs and messages.

Dr. King reflected on the Marquette Park March as “the first step on a 1,000 mile journey.” This march, occurring in a major Northern city, is as integral to the legacy of Dr. King and the history of the civil rights movement as the March from Selma to Montgomery or the March on Washington.