Facial Hair Friday: In honor of MLK

by hparkins, posted in - Civil Rights, - The 1960s, Facial Hair Fridays
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at center.
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at center. (542015 / 306-SSM-4C(51)15)

This Saturday marks the anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington and Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I have a dream” speech.

I was looking through ARC at the pictures of how many people participated, when I noticed something that had never registered before: Martin Luther King Jr. has a mustache.

But when you look at the picture above, you realize why I didn’t notice earlier. He is completely calm and collected, even as he is about to speak to thousands and thousands of people (see image below).  He is focused, in the moment, intense. He is making history. How could anyone watching in person or on film notice minor details then?

Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. A wide-angle view of marchers along the mall, showing the Reflecting Pool and the Washington Monument, 08/28/1963. ARC 542045.
Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. A wide-angle view of marchers along the mall, showing the Reflecting Pool and the Washington Monument, 08/28/1963. (ARC 542045; 306-SSM-4D(80)10)

2 thoughts on “Facial Hair Friday: In honor of MLK”

  1. I love Facial Hair Fridays! What a creative way to incorporate the human experience with history! I must concur that his mustache never registered with me before either, and I am no stranger to civil rights history in the U.S. His ‘stache is as poised as he is, but that intensity in his eyes make you unable to look at anything else.

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