Martin Luther King, Jr. waves to supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial August 28, 1963, on The Mall in Washington, D.C., during the "March on Washington," where King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Photo: AFP PHOTO/GettyImages
You can’t turn back the clock and hear Martin Luther King deliver his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in person — but you can follow along as if it’s happening today, thanks to the Twitter account @todayin1963. All summer, the account — run by NPR’s Codeswitch team, which examines the intersections of race, ethnicity, and culture — has been tweeting its way through the summer of 1963, a pivotal period of the civil rights movement.
The summer of 1963 was a pivotal one in U.S. history, and we’ll be replaying events from all throughout that summer on our Twitter account @TodayIn1963. Inspired by historical Twitter accounts such as @RealTimeWWII and @TitanicRealTime, and with the help of JoElla Straley (one of NPR’s rock star librarians), we’ve collected details that reflect the texture of that era as the Civil Rights Movement took off. Sometimes details can get lost in the haze of big moments.
In addition to some of the summer’s over a thousand marches and protests, you’ll see Billboard hits and fashion trends. Tune in today, and you’ll read about not only speakers taking the stage at the March on Washington, but what they’re serving at the concession stands.
Even 50 years later, there’s something momentous about watching those events unfold in real time, tweeted like the modern breaking news we’ve breathlessly followed on social media. It’s a reminder, too, that while we’ve made progress as a nation, the injustices that spurred the events of 1963 are still very real forces in the United States, and particularly pertinent in the face of recent events like the Supreme Court decision that struck down a portion of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.