This Is the Day: Historic March On Washington – in pictures

All eyes are toward the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where King and others delivered their speeches that day.
Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed /jotos

An elderly white man and a young black man pass each other in front of the house where Lincoln died, where the former president was taken after being shot at Ford's Theatre across the street Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos

A child helps hand out signs to people arriving on the mall. Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos

Taken near the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where Martin Luther King gave his I Have A Dream speech. The crowd reaches far beyond the reflecting pool and past the Washington Monument nearly a mile away. Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos

Many of Freed's images are close-up shots of marchers, in contrast to the most famous images from the day, which tend to show the sea of people stretching from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and down the mall. Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos

Freed was already in place before many of the marchers began arriving on buses and cars to fill the area around the reflecting pool. Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos Photos

Freed captured many people mid-song and mid-shout, revealing the emotion of the day Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed/Magnum Photos

Freed’s photographs are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos

The march took place at the height of the civil rights movement, with peaceful attendees asking for equal voting rights and fair treatment. Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed/Magnum Photos

Young people head toward the mall. Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed/Magnum Photos

Schoolchildren sing near the ring of flags that surrounds the Washington Monument. Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed/Magnum Photos

Freed lingered after the day's main events to capture the remaining marchers as they linked hands for a final rendition of We Shall Overcome. Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed/Magnum Photos

Many of Freed's photographs are anchored by the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, powerful elements of Americana. Others focus entirely on the sea of people who gathered on the mall. Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed/Magnum Photos

Many of the marchers wore their Sunday best. Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed © Estate of Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos

Many of Freed's photos are tight images of people singing and chanting for civil rights. Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos

Women on the mall. Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed/Magnum Photos

From the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the crowd has thinned. Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed/Magnum Photos

As the day's events draw to a close, people join hands to sing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos

After the crowds dispersed, placards littered the ground. The scene is not uncommon after modern gatherings on the mall. Photograph: © Estate of Leonard Freed /Magnum Photos