Photograph of a Young Woman at the Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. with a Banner
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On August 28, 1963, photographer Rowland Scherman, working for the United States Information Agency (USIA), took this photograph. It has become an iconic image of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The girl in the photograph is Edith Lee-Payne of Detroit, Michigan, who celebrated her 12th birthday by attending the March on Washington with her mother. In the photograph she carries a March on Washington banner and concentrates intently on the scene before her. Ms. Lee-Payne had no idea she had been photographed until her sister saw the photograph in a calendar celebrating African-American history. Watch our Inside the Vaults video short about her and photographer Rowland Scherman on the National Archives YouTube Channel.
This primary source comes from the Records of the U.S. Information Agency.
National Archives Identifier: 542030Full Citation: Photograph of a Young Woman at the Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. with a Banner; 8/28/1963; Records of the U.S. Information Agency, Record Group 306. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/photograph-of-a-young-woman-at-the-civil-rights-march-on-washington-dc-with-a-banner, February 27, 2017]
Activities that use this document
- We Shall Overcome: March on Washington
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