History Book - Prayer at the Lincoln Memorial

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Monday, May 16th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Next up the WORLD History Book.

This week marks the anniversary of an international treaty that’s out of this world.

Plus an American vice president takes on TV and family values.

But first, 65 years ago, demonstrators gather at the Lincoln Memorial to pray.

Here’s our executive producer Paul Butler.

OPENING MUSIC FROM A TIME FOR FREEDOM

PAUL BUTLER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: It’s May 17th, 1957. The weather in Washington D.C. is cloudy. Temperatures are in the 60s. Good conditions for the nearly 25,000 demonstrators who arrive by bus and train for the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom. The gathering marks the third anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education—desegregating schools.

Sound here from the 1957 film A Time for Freedom—courtesy of the Library of Congress.

NARRATOR: Today the city of Washington takes notice. Our leaders: A. Phillip Randolf, Ray Wilkins, Reverend King receive the keys to the city…

Three months earlier, Martin Luther King, Jr. and members of the newly formed Southern Leaders Conference sent a telegram to Dwight Eisenhower’s administration. They asked the president to publicly condemn those who refused to fully comply with the Brown decision.

The telegram warned that if he did not, they would lead a demonstration “in order to call the nation’s attention to the violence and organized terror directed toward [those] who merely seek freedom.”

ATTENDEE: I feel that this pilgrimage will show Congress that we are tired of being second-class citizens. Our people have come from all parts of the nation to impress Congress that we want the Civil Rights legislation passed in this session.

The three hour event at the Lincoln Memorial featured speeches and prayers from Civil Rights leaders, politicians, and ministers. Pastor Thomas Kilgore Jr. of Friendship Baptist Church led the attendees in a corporate prayer for peace:

REV KILGORE: It is a good thing to gather in this hallowed place, to give thanks unto the Lord. Lift up your hearts. Bless all people everywhere. And so turn the hearts of men toward each other that inequalities and injustices may disappear and the spirit of brotherhood may dwell among us.

As one of the earliest national peaceful protest Civil Rights events, the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom solidified the young movement in America. While it didn’t lead to any immediate legislative action, it laid the groundwork for future marches on the nation's capital.

Next, 55 years ago this week—May 19th, 1967—the Soviet Union ratifies a space treaty with Britain and the United States:

PATHE NEWSREEL: Meanwhile, the foreign minister presided at the signing of the treaty banning nuclear weapons from outer space. Without such a treaty, life on Earth would be under continual threat. A nightmare existence.

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 outlines international guidelines for space exploration—including a prohibition on placing “weapons of mass destruction in orbit, on the Moon, or on other bodies in space.” Further, the treaty asserts that space exploration “shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries.” It prohibits national appropriation, promotes cooperation and communication, and elevates astronauts as “envoys of mankind.” More than one hundred countries have ratified the treaty to date.

And finally today, we end with a memorable speech from U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle. In April 1992, the Los Angeles riots killed more than 60 people, injured 2,000 others, and police arrested more than 7,000 protestors.

On May 19th, Vice President Quayle addressed the Commonwealth Club of California on a campaign stop. He acknowledged the history of racism and empathized with those hurt by the not-guilty verdict that sparked the riots. But he refused to excuse the violence as an acceptable solution. In his speech he pointed to the break-down of the family as the root cause for “lawless social anarchy.”

The speech outlined how government welfare had hurt the African American family more than it helped. It was pretty standard fare for a campaign speech. But then Quayle added this toward the end of the address—making it one of the most talked about speeches of his political career:

DAN QUAYLE: It doesn’t help matters when primetime TV has Murphy Brown, a character who supposedly epitomizes today’s intelligent, highly paid professional woman, mocking the importance of fathers by bearing a child alone and calling it just another lifestyle choice.

That short comment soon overshadowed the rest of the speech. A few months later, Candice Bergen, the fictional Murphy Brown responded through the sitcom:

MURPHY BROWN: These are difficult times for our country and in searching for the cause of our social ills we could choose to blame the media, or the Congress, or an administration that has been in power for 12 years…or we could blame me (LAUGHTER).

Vice President Quayle didn’t actually blame Murphy Brown—he pointed to her fictional character as an illustration of societal views on fatherhood. Views that needed to change. But that was lost in most of the coverage.

The over-blown conflict made for great TV ratings. But a few years ago Candice Bergen admitted that she actually agreed with Quayle’s larger point—that fathers are important and necessary for a healthy society.

That’s this week’s WORLD History Book. I’m Paul Butler.

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