Local Graduate Mia O'Brien Participates in Network News Coverage of 'March on Washington' Anniversary

2013 Sep 10

A Freehold Township High School graduate was able to share the stories of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington with the nation. Mia O'Brien, now a junior journalism major at Ithaca College, traveled to Washington, D.C. on Aug. 24 to interview participants in the Realize the Dream March and Rally commemorating the 1963 event. Her footage was used on that night's broadcast of "NBC Nightly News."

O'Brien was one of 13 Ithaca College students in the Roy H. Park School of Communications selected to cover the rally. Led by associate journalism professor James Rada, the students worked with NBC to capture the emotions and reactions of people as they celebrated the historic occasion.

O’Brien said she had the opportunity to interview a woman whose father had helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Council along with Martin Luther King Jr. “We discovered the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth’s daughter in the crowd,” said O’Brien. “I’ll never forget kneeling next to her and her telling me how her sister used to watch Martin Luther King Jr.’s kids and how she used to hang out at the King family house.”

The students' footage was packaged and reported on by White House correspondent Kristen Welker. Their work can be seen on NBC's website here.

Participants in the rally marched from the Lincoln Memorial to the King Memorial. Nearly 200,000 people attended, many of whom saw Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in person 50 years ago. O'Brien was able to hear their stories and capture the spirit of hope being passed on to the next generation.

Rada has also produced an hour-long documentary on the original march with the help of his students. "Meet Me at Equality: The People's March on Washington" explores the historic event through interviews with historians and more than two dozen people who took part in it. The film aired on several PBS member stations as part of their March on Washington anniversary coverage.

For more information on "Meet Me at Equality: The People's March on Washington" and the students' work, visit http://meetmeatequality.com/ or contact Rada at jrada@ithaca.edu or (607) 274-3637.