Martin Luther King Jr. |
DETROIT – The UAW-Chrysler National Training Center
will be closed on Monday, Jan. 18, the national holiday honoring civil rights
hero Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The offices will reopen Tuesday, Jan. 19
Below, you can watch a 17-minute film of
Dr. King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on
the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs
and Freedom in 1963.
More than a quarter of a million people
attended the event at which Dr. King spoke. The crowd sprawled from
the steps of the Lincoln Memorial onto the National
Mall and around the reflecting pool. At the time, it was the largest
gathering of protesters ever in the nation's capital.
Among those at the front of the historic march was then-UAW
President Walter Reuther, who can be seen in the opening scenes of the video,
singing "We Shall Overcome" with other leaders.
King's speech that day electrified the crowd. It is regarded,
along with Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg
Address, as one of the finest speeches in the history of American
oratory.
President Kennedy, himself opposed to the march, met King afterwards
with enthusiasm – repeating King's line back to him: "I have a dream,"
while nodding with approval.
