WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today (Wednesday) is the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, the day Doctor Martin Luther King Junior gave his name famous "I Have A Dream" speech.

Did you know a St. Cloud man was instrumental in organizing the event?   St. Cloud native Mathew Ahmann was one of 10 chairmen for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.  Ahmann also gave a speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, just minutes before King's speech.

Ahmann was a founder and dirctor of the Chicago-based National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice.

Ahmann graduated from St. John's Prep, and then St. John's University in 1952.

Ahmann's grandfather was St. Cloud businessman Mathew Hall.  He died in 2001 in Washington, D.C.

Ahmann will be awarded the Colman J. Barry Award from St. John's in October.

President Kennedy meets with the leaders of the March on Washington. Left to right: Willard Wirtz; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Eugene Carson Blake; John F. Kennedy; Lyndon Baines Johnson; Walter Reuther; others not in order: A. Phillip Randolph; John Lewis; Whitney Young; Mathew Ahmann; Joachin Prinz; Roy Wilkins; Floyd McKissick: John F. Kennedy Library, Flickr
President Kennedy meets with the leaders of the March on Washington. Left to right: Willard Wirtz; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Eugene Carson Blake; John F. Kennedy; Lyndon Baines Johnson; Walter Reuther; others not in order: A. Phillip Randolph; John Lewis; Whitney Young; Mathew Ahmann; Joachin Prinz; Roy Wilkins; Floyd McKissick: John F. Kennedy Library, Flickr
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