Annapolis unveils memorial to ‘foot soldiers’ in ’63 March on Washington - The Washington Post

Annapolis unveils memorial to ‘foot soldiers’ in ’63 March on Washington - The Washington Post: ...On Wednesday, the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, one of the country’s first memorials was unveiled, honoring the more than 200,000 “foot soldiers” — the regular people who endured the heat, threats and harassment to march in 1963.

The memorial, which includes the names of more than 500 “foot soldiers” etched on three slabs of granite, was erected at Clay and Calvert streets in Annapolis, the site of the bus depot from which marchers departed in 1963. The result of months of planning by the Annapolis-based Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Committee, the memorial weighs tons and stands seven feet tall in Whitmore Park.

The first panel includes a brief history of the foot soldiers, “the seamstresses, the barbers, the teachers, the ordinary people from all walks of life who chose to be present that day in 1963.” The next panel includes a list of names: last, first, city, state. A final panel includes a quote from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.: “One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change.”