Martin Luther King Jr. Finalizes His “I Have a Dream” Speech at The Willard Hotel

On the night of 27/08/1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. worked with close advisers at The Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., making final preparations for the speech he would deliver the following day at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The historic hotel, today the Willard InterContinental Washington, D.C., stood a short distance from the Lincoln Memorial, where King would address the enormous civil rights gathering on 28/08/1963. Accounts preserved by IHG describe King and his advisers gathering at the Willard as they reviewed the address. Clarence B. Jones, one of King's advisers and speechwriters, helped arrange a secluded area where the group could work without interruption. After discussing and developing the speech with his team, King continued working into the night. IHG's historical account states that he later withdrew to Room 310, now commemorated as the Martin Luther King Jr. Suite, to put finishing touches on the prepared text. The hotel's own history also records that King and his closest advisers made final edits at the Willard only hours before the speech. On 28/08/1963, King joined other civil rights leaders at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and delivered his address from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Approximately 250,000 people participated in the march, according to IHG's account of the event. During the speech, King departed from portions of the prepared manuscript and developed the repeated phrase “I have a dream,” producing the passage for which the address became best known. The March on Washington brought together Americans campaigning for civil rights, racial equality and economic opportunity. The National Park Service describes the march as a watershed in the Civil Rights Movement that helped increase pressure for federal legislation, followed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. The location on the Lincoln Memorial steps from which King delivered the speech is now marked by an inscription recording his name, the March on Washington and the date 28/08/1963. The Willard continues to commemorate its connection with King. Its Martin Luther King Jr. Suite honors his stay and overlooks the Washington Monument, while the hotel's historical timeline records his work there in 1963. The association has also become part of IHG's account of InterContinental Hotels & Resorts' history. Historical Significance The night at The Willard connects the hotel directly with the preparation of one of the best-known addresses of the American Civil Rights Movement. The work King and his advisers completed there preceded his delivery of the speech before hundreds of thousands of people at the Lincoln Memorial the following day.