1863, 1963, 2023: Civil Rights in FIT's Neighborhood

During the summer of 2023, two monumental events in U.S. civil rights history had significant anniversaries—the NYC Draft Riots (1863) and the March on Washington (1963). The Fashion Institute of Technology has largely unknown connections to both events.

During the draft riots, a violent and racist uprising against the Civil War military draft that convulsed New York for several days, an African American man named Abraham Franklin was dragged from his home on Seventh Avenue and 27th Street, the corner of what is now our campus, and lynched.

A century later, the March on Washington was planned, in part, across the street from FIT on Eighth Avenue, in the Penn South apartments of Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph. David Dubinsky and the International Ladies Garment Workers Union put up half the money for the sound system through which Dr. King spoke of his dream; today, FIT’s Dubinsky Building faces Penn South.

Throughout the fall of 2023, we will host several events to commemorate these moments in civil rights history: talks, film screenings, an exhibit, a voter registration drive, a meal, and a walk to an unveiling of the Triangle Fire Memorial.

Schedule of Events

Ongoing through Fall 2023

Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington

Curated by Molly Schoen and Designed by Nanja Andriananjason
Gladys Marcus Library, Fourth Floor Vitrine

Come see documents and images from the March on Washington. 

September

Voter Registration Drive

Sponsored by FIT’s Black Student Union
Date, time, and location TBA

Stop by to register to vote or to talk politics and civil rights.

Family Dinner

Sponsored by FIT’s Black Student Union
Thursday, September 21, 5-7 pm
Location: Faculty Dining Room, Dubinsky (A) Building Eight Floor

Join us for a meal and discussion about civil rights in FIT's neighborhood.

Screening of Bayard & Me and Brother Outsider

With Walter Naegle

September 22, 4:10–7 pm
Location: D207 Screening Room

A documentary double feature about Bayard Rustin, who taught non-violent resistance to Martin Luther King, Jr. and organized the March on Washington. Showing first is the short Bayard & Me, about Rustin’s relationship with his partner Walter Naegle, and then Brother Outsider, a full-length documentary about Rustin’s life.
Followed by an in-person Q&A with Walter Naegle.

October

Fashion’s Role in Black Protest, 1863–1963

With Elizabeth Way and Jonathan Michael Square

Sponsored by the Museum at FIT
October 3rd, 5:30 pm
Location: Katie Murphy Amphitheater

Join fashion historian and Assistant Professor at Parsons School of Design Jonathan Michael Square and MFIT associate curator Elizabeth Way for a conversation on the significance of fashion and self-presentation for Black Civil Rights leaders from the nineteenth century to the present.

9 to 5: The Movement Behind the Movie

With Ellen Cassedy

October 6, 6-7 pm
Location: Room B734

The Draft Riots began as a labor protest, and the March on Washington was organized and supported by labor unions.  In this talk, Ellen Cassedy will discuss a different labor movement she helped lead in the 1970s and ’80s, bringing justice and dignity to office workers and inspiring the iconic movie 9 to 5.

Walk to the Triangle Fire Memorial Unveiling

Sponsored by United College Employees of FIT
October 11th, 10:30 am–1 pm
Meet on 27th Street in front of the Feldman (C) Lobby at 10:30 am.

On October 11th, a memorial to the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire will be unveiled on the façade of the Asch/Brown Building on the corner of Washington Place and Greene Street, where the fire took place in 1911, almost halfway between the Draft Riots and March on Washington. We will meet at 10:30 to walk down to the ceremony together, carrying shirtwaist banners, handing out flyers, and asking onlookers to join us as we go.

How Should We Remember Abraham Franklin?

With Taur Orange, Frank Fraley, Ramona Dunlap, Rukaiah El, Kailee Finn, and Ernesto Martinez

October 12
Time and location TBA

During the Civil War draft riots of 1863, the bloodiest civil disturbance in the history of the United States of America, a man named Abraham Franklin was pulled from his home on Seventh Avenue and 27th Street and lynched by a mob. Lynching is seen as a southern phenomenon, but it happened here too. What is the best way to commemorate this horrific event? How can we create a campus-wide discussion, in person and on social media, about creating a memorial?
Join us for a preliminary discussion about what to do.

Designing Monuments for Tragedy and Triumph

With Steve Locke, Karyn Olivier, Patricia Eunji Kim and Rukaiah El

Sponsored by the Presidential Scholars Program, the Office of the Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the departments of History of Art and Social Sciences, and the Office of Academic Affairs
October 18, 6:30-8 pm
Location: Katie Murphy Amphitheater

At this event, artists Steve Locke and Karyn Olivier will speak on a panel with Patricia Eunji Kim regarding the current landscape/dialogue surrounding public commemorative art in the US and the experience of designing a commemorative work of art. They will offer thoughts on design possibilities for the two events we seek to remember—one tragic, and one inspiring.
FIT student Rukaiah El will moderate.

Screening of The Originals

With Ruth Sergel and the Penn South Archive Project

October 27, 5-7pm
Location: Room B734

Learn about Penn South, the affordable cooperative housing community across Eighth Avenue from FIT, where tenants Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph lived when they planned the March on Washington. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Ruth Sergel.