Tomorrow is the 50th Anniversary of the Martin Luther King, "I have a dream speech" at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. I had been transferred to the USDA National Office of the Soil Conservation Service in the summer of 1962. We were living in the Fairlington Apartments which had been built for military families during WWII. There were numerous 3- unit buildings in the development located at the intersection of I-95 and King St. We had a very nice 3 bedroom unit with a kitchen and combination dining/living room. It was about 5 miles southwest of downtown D.C.
Non-essential Government workers were encouraged not to go into the District to work on that day of King's speech because of the large number of protesters expected to assemble at the Lincoln Memorial/Reflection pool area. I stayed home and the kids and I rode bikes over to the edge of our development during the early morning and looked over the fence to I-95 (Shirley Highway). The two incoming lanes were filled with vehicles bringing people in from the south to participate in the event. Elaine had only been home from the hospital for a couple weeks following major surgery so we had a quiet day at home. I was helping Elaine with supper as we listened to King's speech. When he began the "I have a dream ..." iteration, we stopped, stood still and listened. As he finished, I knew this was something special. I have a picture in my mind of that precise moment.
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