On August 28, 1963, an estimated 250,000 people made their way to Washington, D.C. to demand civil and economic rights for African Americans. In attendance at the March on Washington was Gloria Dreher Eaddy of Columbia, SC, who later became a friend and mentor to Dr. Bobby Donaldson, a professor at the University of South Carolina.
On March 21, 2024, they spoke with StoryCorps, a national initiative to record and collect stories of everyday people. This excerpt was selected and produced by Linda Nunez.
TRANSCRIPT:
Donaldson: So, Ms. Eaddy, you said you're 80 years old?
Eaddy: Yes.
Donaldson: It's hard for me to believe that. So, you have lived and witnessed a lot in those eight decades?
Eaddy: I have.
Donaldson: So, let's go to August 28, 1963. So, on that date, 250,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C. at the Lincoln Memorial. And you were one of them.
Eaddy: I was a part of the Columbia Youth NAACP. The president of our partnership with the Youth NAACP was a young man named Bernard Moore. He was the president. My best friend, Maddie Blackett, who later married Bernard, was the secretary. And we was under the leadership of Dr. I. DeQuincey Newman. Mattie, I wasn't in college. Both of them was at Benedict. And they asked me if I wanted to attend the march on Washington. And I told them I wanted to, but at the time, my parents couldn't afford for me to go. And, I remember Reverend Newman and lawyer Perry telling me, “Not a problem.” If I wanted to go, I was welcome to go.
Donaldson: How did you get there, and who were some of the people who went with you?
Eaddy: We left on the bus from Benedict College. Reverend Newman went with us. Bernard Moore, Maddie Blackett.
Donaldson: What stands out in your mind about what you heard and what you saw that day?
Eaddy: We were sitting down by the reflecting pool when Dr. King started his speech. No one was interested. You know, it was just like he was up there talking. And it just so happened there was an open mic there, and Mahalia Jackson tugged on him. She said, “Dr. King, do your ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.” And he just put his script away and went into his “I Have a Dream” speech. Because had he, I'm sure, had he gone on with the one that he had, it never would have made history.
Donaldson: So, the “I Have a Dream” speech is now considered one of the most important speeches in American history.
Eaddy: Yes.
Donaldson: You heard it?
Eaddy: Yes.
Donaldson: Tell me about that.
Eaddy: Well, it was really amazing because once he got into it, I'll put it this way, he went into his full Baptist mode. And it was like sitting in a Baptist congregation, hearing an old-time preacher. And, what was so amazing, there were so many people on the stage, you know, that it made it even more interesting because, at the time, Mahalia Jackson was there, Nikki Giovanni, Harry Belafonte, Sammy Davis Jr. And, you said what stood out to me a lot, I forgot to tell you that when we were sitting in the grass, and all of a sudden we looked up and we saw Harry Belafonte, Sydney Poitier, Burt Lancaster, they all came walking across the line behind us. And we'd never seen any actors or anything. That was exciting, too.
Donaldson: You saw the who's who of Hollywood come down?
Eaddy: Yes, we did. Yes, we did.
