The real story behind Martin Luther King Jr.'s greatest moment

"I have a dream ... " We all know the words that start the famous speech.

But Martin Luther King Jr.'s crowning moment may never have happened without one of the largest protests ever — the March on Washington on August 28, 1963.

After growing backlash against blacks in the South, King and five others planned the event, a peaceful demonstration to end segregation and promote equal rights.

King crafted his famous speech specifically for the 250,000 people who would gather in the nation's capital that day.

In 1963, Birmingham, Alabama had become the epicenter of racist violence in America. A KKK member bombed a Baptist church, killing four young girls in September. Denise McNair, 11; Carole Robertson, 14; Addie Mae Collins, 14; and Cynthia Wesley, 14; from left, died in the fire.

AP Photo

Source: Associated Press

As a result, Martin Luther King, Jr. turned his focus to the area, organizing many anti-segregation demonstrations there. Police arrested King and his fellow civil rights proponent, Rev. Ralph Abernathy, on April 12, 1963 during a demonstration.

AP Photo/Horace Cort

Source: Associated Press

The situation in the South continued to worsen. Below, firefighters in Birmingham turn a high-powered hose on peaceful demonstrators. Bayard Rustin, the march's head organizer, said that credit for mobilizing the march could go to "Bull Connor [Commissioner of Public Safety in Birmingham], his police dogs, and his fire hoses."

AP Photo/Bill Hudson

Source: Congress of Racial Equality

The assassination of Medgar Evers, the first director of the Mississippi NAACP, on June 12, 1963 also created outrage and sorrow in the black community. Below, his widow, Myrlie Louise Evers, bends down to kiss her deceased husband at a public viewing at a funeral home in Mississippi.

AP Photo/file

Source: Associated Press

Days later, black demonstrators descended on Washington. Demonstrators marched from the White House to the Department of Justice with few incidents, defying speculations of violence and other negative press. Here, Attorney General Robert Kennedy addresses the crowd with a bullhorn.

AP Photo/stf

Source: Associated Press

Demonstrations around the country began happening with greater fervency and frequency. Here, Alison Turaj continued marching through Gwynn Oak Amusement Park in Baltimore, despite a cut on her forehead. During a peaceful demonstration in July, a mob of angry whites threw rocks at her and others. Yet police arrested more than 100 black and white integrationists that day.

AP Photo

Source: Associated Press

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