Bayard Rustin
Activist and Organizer
Embedded Files
"When an individual is protesting society's refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him."
Bayard Rustin, Deputy Director, and Cleveland Robinson, Chairman of Administrative Committee (left to right) in front of 170 W 130 St. preparing for the March on Washington, August 7, 1963New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection (Library of Congress)
Bayard Rustin (1912–1987) had a knack for strategizing and organizing non-violent protests. Although he's been called both "the Socrates of the civil rights movement" and a ''master strategist of social change,'' he was rarely in the spotlight. As a gay, Black pacifist, he was often discriminated against by American society, and sometimes had to fight prejudice within the civil rights organizations he was part of.
He was involved with many different civil rights and labor organizations starting in the 1940s and stayed engaged in the struggle for justice his whole life, both nationally and internationally.
He started working with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1956, when labor leader and activist, A. Philip Randolph, suggested Rustin go to Montgomery, Alabama and lend support to Dr. King and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. It was there that Rustin introduced Dr. King to the non-violent teachings of Mahatma Ghandi.
Rustin worked closely with Dr. King through the height of the civil rights movement. His largest and most well-known organizing achievement was the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, where Dr. King gave his famous I Have a Dream speech.
From Our Collection
Bayard Rustin at the White House, April 5, 1968, the day after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.LBJ Presidential Library
Bayard Rustin and other civil rights leaders meeting with President Johnson on April 5, 1968
Oral History with Bayard Rustin
Oral History with Bayard Rustin
Click here to read Bayard Rustin's oral history transcript from June 17, 1969. He covers many topics; from the civil rights bills of 1957 and 1964, to organizing the March on Washington, and his relationships with Mr. A. Philip Randolph, LBJ, and introducing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to the concept of non-violence.
From the National Archives Collection
Final plans for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, page 1National Archives and Records Administration
March on Washington, August 28, 1963National Archives and Records Administration
March on Washington program, August 28, 1963. More pages can be seen by clicking the link below.National Archives and Records Administration
Bonus Content
The March (1963, restored)
The March (1963, restored)
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