Other Marches On Washington

• 1894 Coxey’s Army

Marching from Ohio, picking up adherents as they go, this mass is the first protest march on Washington, calling for spending programs to prop up an economy in recession. On arriving in DC, the leaders are arrested and the mass disperses.

• The 1932 Bonus Army

World War I veterans had been promised bonuses structured for future payout; amidst the Depression they pushed for earlier redemption. Coming from as far as Portland by rail, up to 50,000 unemployed veterans and their family members came to DC, in the manner of the earlier-that-year Cox’s and Coxey’s Army marches.

Living rough, including in a 10,000 person shantytown on the Anacostia Flats, the Army sees the House vote to advance payment of bonuses but the Senate reject.

Six weeks later, the establishment having grown convinced that in a revolutionary age, no good can come of allowing a sullen encampment of veterans festering among them, an over-bold Douglas MacArthur disperses them with tear gas, tanks, and cavalry charges.

• The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

This is the “I Have a Dream” one. After WWII Coxey and his march were embraced as a model for (defanged) civil enthusiasm and the “March on Washington” becomes a favored idiom for national issue-based spectacle-petitioning, seeking some particular benefice from the government. In this case, they get the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

• The 1967 March on the Pentagon

In 1967, drafting off a National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam-organized rally, Yippie activist Abbie Hoffman plans and leads a 50,000-strong march on the Pentagon, which he claimed they would levitate. (Hoffman was known for straight-faced absurdity).

For reference, the Chicago DNC “police riot” was in 1968, Woodstock was 1969, the Kent State shootings were 1970, US involvement in the war officially ended in 1973, and the Fall of Saigon was 1975.

US forces mobilized to repel the crowd and largely held the line peacefully. The iconic image of a hippie chick placing flowers in the barrel of a guarding soldier’s rifle comes from here. The focus on imagery and mythmaking through limited but symbolic conflict would be characteristic of the coming age of politics.

• The March for Life (1974-)

Arguably the culmination of the post-WWII spectacle-petitioning mobilization, first held on the anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision and yearly thereafter, against abortion and its legality.

Powered substantially by Catholic groups able to mobilize their membership (particularly, students of Catholic schools) the yearly event prides itself on attaining attendance in the half-million range but is perhaps self-limiting; observers are made aware that they represent a movement of formidable logistical capacity, but also that this does not reflect or predict any disruption of several decades’ status quo.

• The 1995 Million Man March

March organized by questionably Islamic black men’s advancement brotherhood Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, pledging to turn out a million black men. Attendance estimated at around 40% to 80% of this, still quite impressive for such a focused demographic.

Though paired with some voter registration elements, the march largely eschewed a political program in favor of a focus on “atonement, reconciliation, and responsibility” as part of a validated male role, reminiscent of the mythopoetic men’s movement and the contemporary Promise Keepers

Arguably represents Farrakhan bidding to place himself as MLK’s successor as leading black movement leader, amidst similar positioning from Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, Jr. If so, unsuccessful and single largest lasting effect probably is inspiring what’s generally considered the best Spike Lee movie, Get On the Bus.