Lake View East in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Bayard Rustin

The Legacy Walk

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, August 26, 2021

1. Bayard Rustin Marker

Inscription.
Bayard Rustin
(Gay U.S. Civil Rights Activist)
(1912 - 1987)

On the forefront of A. Philip Randolph’s efforts to end segregation in the Armed Forces, Bayard Rustin was instrumental in obtaining President Harry S. Truman’s July 1948 order to integrate the U.S. military. In 1949 Rustin spent almost a month on a chain-gang in North Carolina as punishment for protesting segregated seating on buses. As a leading proponent of non-violence in the face of racial injustice, Rustin used his influence to strengthen Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s position in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, eventually becoming one of King’s chief political advisors, strategists and speechwriters. Through much of Rustin’s career his openness about being gay was an issue of contention. Despite widespread pressure from other civil rights activists to fire him, Randolph and King remained steadfast in their support - though the threat of scandal often forced periods of estrangement. Indeed Rustin and King parted ways for three years before Randolph orchestrated Rustin’s pivotal role as architect of the watershed March on Washington,

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where Dr. King delivered his seminal “I Have A Dream” speech. In August of 1963, conservative Senator (and unabashed segregationist) Strom Thurmond of South Carolina took to the floor of the U.S. Senate to discredit the March by accusing Rustin of being a Communist, a draft-dodger and a homosexual. But such declarations did not sway Rustin from the path he had chosen for his life, and could not diminish his impact on King or on the movement he had quietly, but profoundly, influenced for decades. Rustin mentored King to make Mohandas Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violent “Civil Disobedience” the strategic centerpiece of King’s activism and the hallmark of his legacy. Rustin was the living embodiment of what came to be called “Rainbow Politics,” strategically linking tolerance and acceptance for sexual minorities with the struggle for racial and economic justice – setting the tone for the Gay and Lesbian Rights Movement that was to come. Though Bayard Rustin is often forgotten by many contemporary activists, few people had a more powerful influence on the Civil Rights Movement and its enduring impact on the course of American History.

Erected 2012

Bayard Rustin Marker - wide view image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, August 26, 2021

2. Bayard Rustin Marker - wide view

The Rustin marker shares the pylon with the marker for Sally Ride.

by The Legacy Project.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights. In addition, it is included in the The Legacy Walk series list. A significant historical month for this entry is July 1948.

Location. 41° 56.54′ N, 87° 38.965′ W. Marker is in Chicago, Illinois, in Cook County. It is in Lake View East. It is on North Halsted Street, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 3314 North Halsted Street, Chicago IL 60657, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the American Midwest.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Great Lakes,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Dr. Sally K. Ride (here, next to this marker); Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (a few steps from this marker); Cole Porter (a few steps from this

Bayard Rustin image. Click for full size.

Ken Souser (courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania under CC 4.0 license), circa 1968

3. Bayard Rustin

marker); Walt Whitman (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Keith Haring (about 300 feet away); Reinaldo Arenas (about 300 feet away); Alan Mathison Turing (about 300 feet away); Sylvester (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Chicago.

Also see . . .
1. Bayard Rustin (The Legacy Project). The Legacy Project's page for Bayard Rustin. Includes marker text, photos, and bibliography. (Submitted on September 3, 2021.)

2. California Governor Posthumously Pardons Civil Rights Icon Bayard Rustin (Essence, Feb. 5, 2020). (Submitted on September 3, 2021.)
3. Bayard Rustin: the gay black pacifist at the heart of the March on Washington (The Guardian,8/23/13).

Rustin, a formidable organiser and central figure in the civil rights movement, was a complex and compelling figure. Raised a Quaker, his political development would take him through pacifism, communism, socialism and into the civil rights movement in dramatic fashion. In 1944, after refusing to fight in World War Two, he had been jailed as a conscientious objector. It was primarily through him that the leadership would
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adopt non-violent direct action not only as a strategy but a principle. "The only weapons we have is our bodies," he once said. "And we have to tuck them in places so wheels don't turn."

(Submitted on September 3, 2021.)

Additional keywords. lgbt lgbtq

Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on September 3, 2021, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 381 times since then and 38 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on September 3, 2021, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.