U.S. President Barack Obama will give the keynote address at Wednesday's observance of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, the historic 1963 demonstration for equal rights that drew more than 250,000 people to the Lincoln Memorial.
Mr. Obama, the nation's first black president, will deliver his remarks to tens of thousands of people who are expected to attend the commemoration.
Also appearing at Wednesday's anniversary observance will be former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, and media personality Oprah Winfrey.
The march 50 years ago was capped by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Junior's famous "I Have a Dream" speech for racial harmony and justice, hailed by historians as one of the greatest ever delivered.
The 1963 "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom" was held at the height of the American civil-rights movement that was aimed at ensuring the rights of all people are equally protected by the law. The movement had faced strong and sometimes violent resistance to ending the practice of segregation that treated white and black Americans differently under the law.