Cap worn by Roy Wilkins during the March on Washington for Jobs
and Freedom in 1963 Wilkins began his civil rights career in
1934 as editor of The Crisis, the magazine of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People. From 1955 to
1977 he served as the organization's executive director and was
a leading organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. Awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969, Wilkins was praised by
President Lyndon Johnson for helping "stir the Nation's
conscience." In 1980, shortly before his death, Wilkins donated
mementos from his career to the Smithsonianthe first major
donation of artifacts associated with an African American civil
rights leader. African American History, Civil Rights Movement,
Hats, Political Protest Return to the Legacies Home Page