On Wednesday, March 24, 1965, the marchers’ ranks swelled enormously on the last leg of the trip, reaching 10,000 by the time they arrived at the final campsite two miles from the city limits at the Saint Jude complex. Dirty, disheveled, and exhausted, they slogged through a field of mud to reach the tents where they would spend the night. In the surrounding local black community known as the Liberation Neighborhood, they received a transforming welcome and hospitality as people ran from their homes cheering, opened their doors to complete strangers, brought out food and drink, or joined the throng. Marcher Richard Leonard recalled that it felt like the welcome veterans returning from a foreign war might feel, in modern times or in Caesar's.

Photo: Mark Hilton

Photo: Mark Hilton

Montgomery, Alabama · USA