March anniversary a chance to honor civil rights pioneers

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President Obama delivers his address on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images)

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President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama walk into the Lincoln Memorial after speaking during the March on Washington commemoration. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images)

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President Obama greets Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King III, who looks on alongside his wife, Andrea King. (Mark Wilson / Getty Images)

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President Obama shakes hands with former President Clinton during the commemoration of the March on Washington. (Mark Wilson / Getty Images)

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Rene Henry of Washington joins thousands of others during the commemoration of the March on Washington. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

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President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, along with former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, arrive during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images)

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Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) speaks during the commemoration of the March on Washington. (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)

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Oprah Winfrey speaks during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images)

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Spectators watch President Obama speak during the commemoration of the March on Washington. (Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA)

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Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) waves to the crowd during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images)

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Thr Rev. Al Sharpton speaks at the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the Lincoln Memorial. (Charles Dharapak / Associated Press)

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On Aug. 28, thousands of peopled attended the “Let Freedom Ring Commemoration and Call to Action” to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom at the Lincoln Memorial. (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images)

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Actor Forest Whitaker speaks during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. (Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images)

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Rev. Joseph Lowery, former president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, speaks at the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington at the Lincoln Memorial. (Charles Dharapak / Associated Press)

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Traditional Maori dancers from Destiny Church in New Zealand perform during the “Let Freedom Ring Commemoration and Call to Action” to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images)

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People cover themselves with rain ponchos in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. (Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images)

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Actor Jamie Foxx speaks during the “Let Freedom Ring Commemoration and Call to Action” to commemorate the March on Washington. (Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images)

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Marchers walk from Capitol Hill to the Lincoln Memorial during the “Let Freedom Ring Commemoration and Call to Action” honoring the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, the landmark civil rights event where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

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John Mbugua and his son Giovanni Mbugua, 6, of San Jose, left, and Lavon Johnson and his son Mason Johnson, 2, of Fort Meade Md., greet one another while marching with thousands of others during a march honoring the 50th anniversary of the historic 1963 march on Washington. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

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People put up with light rain near at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington to commemorate the 50th anniversary on the march on Washington, best remembered for King’s stirring vision of a United States free of inequality and prejudice, telecast live to a nation undergoing a phenomenal decade of soul-searching, crisis and change. (Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images)

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People take pictures during the “Let Freedom Ring” ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the march on Washington. (Mark Wilson / Getty Images)

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Emcees Soledad O’Brien, left, and Hill Harper open the “Let Freedom Ring” ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the march on Washington. (Shawn Thew / EPA)

By Alexei Koseff

Aug. 28, 2013 11:05 AM PT

WASHINGTON -- For many people at the National Mall on Wednesday, it was an opportunity to honor family members who had fought in the civil rights movement.

At the 50th anniversary celebration of the March on Washington, Jesse N. Holmes, a local Washington resident, wore a cardboard sign with a picture of his father, John, at the 1963 march that appeared in Ebony magazine.

Though Holmes was only 6 and did not attend the original event, he said he vividly remembers his father stepping out the door in a light blue suit and then immediately turning back to make sure his mother didn’t want to join.

Holmes said his father was a cartographer at the U.S. Geological Survey who helped map Antarctica, but he was often passed over for promotions because he was black. His father’s subsequent community activism and the pride he felt at having marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. inspired Holmes.

VOICES: The March on Washington

“I feel compelled to continue the work that he was about,” Holmes said. “It was important to him, so I thought I would bring him back in some sort of way.”

Rebecca Dickey recalled growing up in Greene County, Virginia, where schools were still segregated in the 1960s and African American students had to be bused to a nearby district for high school.

She said her family discovered only four years ago that her parents, James and Lucille Buckner, who had less than a middle school education, had sued the board of supervisors to integrate the local high school. Her two older brothers were among the first four black students to attend.

“We are at the age where we can appreciate what others fought for us,” Dickey said. “I was just so excited to take off work” and remember their achievement.

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