Martin Luther King, Jr., March On Washington: View From The Control Room | TV News Director Max A. Schindler
Jun 08, 2012 in View From The Control Room-Max A. Schindler, You Think So
You Think What proudly presents a series of remembrances of a television news director’s career. Max A. Schindler worked for the NBC News Bureau in Washington, D.C. for many years. In this second article he describes directing news coverage of a gathering of mostly black civil rights activists in the nation’s capital. This time Max tells the reader what it was like to be present while capturing the televised images of a truly American historic event.
View From The Control Room Segment#2
by Max A. Schindler
The March on Washington
August 28, 1963
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was a large rally in support of equal rights for African Americans. There were somewhere between 200,000 to 300,000 people who participated. Approximately 75 to 80 percent were African Americans…the rest were white and other minorities. It was estimated over 500 cameramen, technicians and correspondents were there to cover this event for the networks and news media. I was there with my crew to cover the major speeches at the Lincoln Memorial. Other crews were in various locations all over the grounds at the Washington Monument, where the march was to begin, and along the mall in between the two memorials.
The leaders of the march were A. Philip Randolph, James Farmer, John Lewis, Martin Luther King, Jr., Roy Wilkins and Whitney Young. The event included musical performances by Marion Anderson, Joan Baez, Mahalia Jackson; Peter, Paul and Mary and Josh White. Charlton Heston representing many artists…Harry Belafonte, Marlon Brando, Ossie Davis, Sammy Davis, Jr., Diahann Carroll, Lena Horne, Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier…gave a speech on behalf of all of them.
The speech that will be long remembered, though, is the famous “I Have A Dream” speech by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (more…)