The Lincoln Memorial, located on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, has been the site of many rallies and demonstrations since it was dedicated in 1922. But it was during the 1960s, when civil rights marchers and Vietnam protesters flooded the area, that the memorial was witness to several historic speeches and protests.
One of the most famous events was the 1963 "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom." That march, organized by civil rights and union activists, brought more than 200,000 people to the Lincoln Memorial in what was one of the largest rallies of its day. Many celebrities from the literary and film world took part, and entertainment was provided by, among others, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.
The final speaker was Martin Luther King Jr. -- whose "I Have a Dream" speech on the memorial steps has been immortalized as a cornerstone of the American Civil Rights Movement.
The Lincoln Memorial and The Mall were used for protests against the Vietnam War beginning in the mid-1960s. In October 1967, the National Mobilization Against the War in Vietnam organized 100,000 demonstrators at the memorial. About a third of them went from the Lincoln Memorial to the Pentagon -- where they spent the night at the Pentagon's main entrance. Some of the demonstrators, as a prank, said they were gathering to levitate the Pentagon.
Between 1967 and 1973, more than a dozen anti-war protests took place near the memorial -- especially around the grounds of the Washington Monument.
At the end of The Mall, across from the Lincoln Memorial, stands the Capitol. Demonstrations on the Capitol steps are a common occurrence -- but they were massive during the time of the anti-war movement. An estimated 600,000 people stretched from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial on November 15, 1969, to protest Vietnam, and the Vietnam "Out Now" rally on April 24, 1971, drew about 500,000 people.