<P> In light of the role of Negro women in the struggle for freedom and especially in light of the extra burden they have carried because of the castration of our Negro men in this culture, it is incredible that no woman should appear as a speaker at the historic March on Washington Meeting at the Lincoln Memorial...</P> <P> The assembled group agreed that Myrlie Evers, the new widow of Medgar Evers, could speak during the "Tribute to Women". However, Mrs. Evers was unavailable . Daisy Bates spoke briefly (less than 200 words) in place of Myrlie Evers, who had missed her flight . Earlier, Josephine Baker had addressed the crowd before the official program began . Although Gloria Richardson was on the program and had been asked to give a two - minute speech, when she arrived at the stage her chair with her name on it had been removed, and the event marshal took her microphone away after she said "hello". Richardson, along with Rosa Parks and Lena Horne, was escorted away from the podium before Martin Luther King Jr. spoke . </P> <P> Early plans for the March would have included an "Unemployed Worker" as one of the speakers . This position was eliminated, furthering criticism of the March's middle - class bias . </P> <P> Gospel legend Mahalia Jackson sang "How I Got Over", and Marian Anderson sang "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands". This was not Marian Anderson's first appearance at the Lincoln Memorial . In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution refused permission for Anderson to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall . With the aid of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and her husband Franklin D. Roosevelt, Anderson performed a critically acclaimed open - air concert on Easter Sunday, 1939, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial . </P>

Who attended the march on washington in 1963