<Begin Segment 21>

TI: I'm curious, during this period, if you were in D.C. on the Civil Rights March on Washington. I believe that was '65? Is that time or '64?

CS: It was later. I think it was, I think it was about... let's see. I left the Justice Department in '64, so it was before '64. I was still with the Justice Department.

TI: Right. And was wondering, because, again, so much was happening with civil rights during that period, if you recall that, that march?

CS: I recall it very, very clearly. We had been notified by the FBI to stay out of Washington, that terrible things were going to happen. The FBI had agents stationed on rooftops with machine guns to control the disaster resulting from the unrest arising from the March on Washington. I lived in Northern Virginia, I comfortably stayed at home in Northern Virginia, and watched the march only on television, intent on protecting myself and my family against terrible things that were going to happen. It was the worst decision I've ever made in my life. I missed probably the most significant event in the history of this country by not being physically present for the March on Washington. And it was orderly, the people came by buses, planes, trains, automobiles, on foot. They marched to the monument, the Washington Monument, they had the program, the service, and that was when Martin Luther King, Jr. did his so-called "I Have a Dream" speech and all of this. And then when it was over, everybody went back where they came from and the streets were clear. No evidence of any misconduct or misbehavior on anybody's part, even the wonderful Metropolitan Police did not misconduct themselves. [Laughs] It was a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful experience, and I missed it. And I regret that I missed it.

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 2004 Densho. All Rights Reserved.