In News History: Dateline: Resurrection City In the spring of
1968, long before Occupy Wall Street protesters turned city
squares into tent cities, hundreds of civil rights activists
from across the country occupied the National Mall in
Washington, D.C., and set up an encampment of makeshift shacks
called Resurrection City. Resurrection City was the brainchild
of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights
leaders who planned a Poor People's Campaign to emphasize the
plight of America's poor. By marching and staging a live-in on
the nation's front yard, they hoped to pressure Congress to pass
laws that would stamp out poverty. Weeks before the march, the
unthinkable happened: King was assassinated outside his hotel
room in Memphis, Tenn. Grieving organizers decided to continue
King's legacy and march to Washington. On May 12, thousands of
protesters — whites, blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans —
marched in the streets of Washington demanding an Economic Bill
of Rights that would guarantee jobs