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On August 17, 1963, twenty-seven-year-old Ledger Smith skated 700 miles from Chicago to the March on Washington, D.C. Ten hours each day for ten strenuous days, Smith skated with the word “FREEDOM” emblazoned across a sash he wore as he braved an arduous journey.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) accompanied him for safety, monitored his progress, and recorded speeds up to 25 miles per hour, with distances of roughly 70 miles per day.
Smith is photographed where his journey began on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago, wearing his skates and holding a placard announcing his mission. The image not only marks the start of his trek but also reflects the dedication required to undertake such a feat.
Smith was already a professional roller skater and had performed at nightclubs from Chicago to Los Angeles, leaping over 12 chairs, jumping through flaming hoops, and executing a mix of cartwheels and turns. But he still needed to prepare. In the two weeks preceding his departure, he ran five miles every day to ensure his readiness for the journey ahead.
As he crossed state lines, newspapers tracked his progress, though many doubted he could endure such a demanding feat. Some even speculated that he might secretly ride in the NAACP car that shadowed him.
Yet, Smith put his body on the line, undeterred. There were moments when drivers swerved at him with their cars; in Indiana, one man even tried to run him down but missed.
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The journey was also exhausting, causing Smith to lose 20 pounds. After all, he wasn’t skating on the smooth, polished wood floor at the roller rink, but instead he traveled across rough asphalt and loose gravel, and he faced the constant threat of white violence.
Despite these obstacles, Smith persevered and made headlines as the Roller Man who skated for freedom.
After each hard-fought day of skating, Smith stopped in cities across Ohio, Virginia, and Pennsylvania to rally local communities to join the cause. Despite traversing vast distances each day, he poured his remaining energy into event dinners and spoke passionately at several rallies to inspire countless supporters to stand behind the March on Washington.
Smith’s “picket on wheels” was an act of resistance that challenged segregationist policies, which systematically denied Black Americans their basic civil and human rights across the nation.
To combat these injustices, Black communities and civil rights organizations including the NAACP, Youth Progressives of America, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), organized skate-ins along with sit-ins, to protest segregation at roller rinks and other sites of recreation and public accommodations.
For example, in 1944, CORE staged its first stand-in at the White City Roller Rink on Chicago’s South Side to desegregate the popular venue. By doing so, African Americans not only asserted their right to skate and enjoy recreation without discrimination, but also engaged in a cultural expression and freedom found through roller skating.
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Smith completed his journey on August 27, 1963, arriving just before 1 p.m. Upon his arrival, he was interviewed by the Educational Radio Network about his journey. When asked why he chose to skate, he replied, “[T]o dramatize the march, I picked the slowest way.”
Smith was greeted by Jerry Carter, President of the Youth Council of the Brownsville-Uniontown NAACP Branch and met with cheers from the crowd at the March. He then joined a quarter of a million people at the Lincoln Memorial to unite in the fight for civil rights.
The photograph titled “Roller Skating to Washington” showcases Ledger Smith’s extraordinary journey. More than just a feat of endurance, it was a powerful act of protest in the ongoing struggle for Black liberation.
By rolling across hundreds of miles through harsh terrain, violence, and doubt, Smith proved that the fight for freedom was advanced not only by political leaders, but by everyday people willing to sacrifice and take action, in this case “skating-up” for what is right.
His journey created a role in the Black Freedom Movement for roller skating and demonstrated how individual acts of protest contributed to the collective struggle.
For Smith, freedom was not only conceptual, but it was also something to be actively experienced and practiced. His story broadens our understanding of the Black Freedom Movement, revealing that in addition to well-known acts such as sit-ins, marches, and boycotts, roller skating, too, was a powerful agent of change.
Learn more:
Wolcott, Victoria W. Race, Riots, and Roller Coasters: The Struggle over Segregated Recreation in America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012.
Stanton, Mary. Recreation Without Humiliation: Black Leisure in the Twentieth-Century South. Greece: University of Georgia Press, 2024.
