This Day in History

Oct. 25, 1958: Youth March for Integrated Schools

Time Periods: 1945
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Education
Harry Belafonte | Zinn Education Project

Harry Belafonte speaks to the audience at the Lincoln Memorial on Oct. 25, 1958. At left, seated, is Jackie Robinson who also spoke. Source: AP Photo/Charles Gorry

On Oct. 25, 1958, A. Philip Randolph, Jackie Robinson, Coretta Scott King, Harry Belafonte, Bayard Rustin, and more led a Youth March for Integrated Schools in Washington, D.C. with over 10,000 participants.

March organizers also included Daisy Bates and NAACP’s Roy Wilkins. Belafonte led a delegation of the students to the White House to meet with President Eisenhower. They were turned away.

Learn more from ‘Civil Rights Movement History 1958‘ at CRMvet.org.

The major role of young people is one of the stories typically left out of textbook narratives of the Civil Rights Movement. Learn more about the role of young people at the SNCC Digital Gateway.