Bayard Rustin organizes the March on Washington

Bayard Rustin served as the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, marshaling 250,000 people in the largest civil rights demonstration in American history. His logistical genius made the march possible, though his open homosexuality led civil rights leaders to keep him in the background. He is now recognized as one of the towering strategists of nonviolent resistance.