Response of Martin Luther King, Jr., to allegations by the city of Memphis, TN, that he and others were engaged in a conspiracy to incite riots or breaches of the peace, April 4, 1968.
“The defendants are not presently and have never been engaged in any conspiracies as alleged in the complaint.”
Record Group 21: Records of District Courts of the United States
File Unit: City of Memphis vs Martin Luther King, Jr., et. al., Civil C-68-80
Transcription:
Source: catalog.archives.gov
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963.
Series: Miscellaneous Subjects, Staff and Stringer Photographs
Image description: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks at a podium in front of the fluted columns of the Lincoln Memorial. A National Park Service ranger is standing in the foreground.
Source: catalog.archives.gov
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and others at the March on Washington, 8/28/1963.
Series: Miscellaneous Subjects, Staff and Stringer Photographs, 1961 - 1974
Record Group 306: Records of the U.S. Information Agency, 1900 - 2003
Image description: Several men in the midst of the March on Washington. They wear suits and “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” buttons. In the center of the photo is Martin Luther King, Jr.; to his right is Mathew Ahmann. In the background there are the bottoms of signs that say things like “NOW!” and “EMPLOYMENT.”
Source: catalog.archives.gov
Attendees sing “We Shall Overcome” during the dedication ceremony for the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington, D.C., 10/16/2011
Series: Presidential Photographs, 1/20/2009 - 1/20/2017
Collection: Records of the White House Photo Office (Obama Administration), 1/20/2009 - 1/20/2017
Image description: Harry Johnson, Sr; President and Mrs. Obama; Vice President and Dr. Biden; Interior Sec. Ken Salazar; and Herman “Skip” Mason stand in front of the light granite of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial with their arms linked, and sing.
Source: catalog.archives.gov
Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.
Here, he addresses the crowd during the 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom in Washington, D.C.
Series: Combined Military Service Digital Photographic Files, 1982 - 2007
Record Group 330: Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, 1921 - 2008
Image description: We are on a dais behind Martin Luther King, Jr., as he speaks at a podium at the top of the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The wide sleeves of his robe drape from his outstretched arms. Past him, we see a crowd filling the space, then the Reflecting Pool and the Washington Monument.
Source: catalog.archives.gov
First Lady Betty Ford viewing a portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr., held by Dr. Hardy Franklin, director of the DC Public Library System, during a tour of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC, 1/14/1976
Series: Gerald R. Ford White House Photographs, 8/9/1974 - 1/20/1977
Collection: White House Photographic Office Collection (Ford Administration), 12/6/1973 - 1/20/1977
Image description: Betty Ford stands at a granite library counter, smiling, with her hands on a stack of books. She is looking at a portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr., which is being held by Dr. Hardy Franklin, a Black man. A number of Black and white schoolchildren and adults look on.
Source: catalog.archives.gov
Jimmy Carter with Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King, Sr. and other civil rights leaders for a White House reception in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. 10/3/1978
File Unit: 3-13 Cabinet Meeting; 15-18 Announcement on veto of Public Works Bill; rest: Martin L. King Reception, 10/3/1978 - 10/3/1978. Series: Jimmy Carter’s Presidential Photographs , 1/20/1977 - 1/20/1981. Collection: White House Staff Photographers Collection, 1/20/1977 - 1/20/1981.
Submitted anonymously to our Citizen Archivist Takeover.
Submit your ideas for October documents here: https://goo.gl/forms/qBgvcWqUyYioD4yT2
Source: catalog.archives.gov
“Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Community on the Move for Equality Invite You to March for Justice and Jobs”
Exhibit 1 in City of Memphis vs. Martin Luther King, Jr, 1968
File Unit: City of Memphis vs Martin Luther King, Jr., et. al., Civil C-68-80, 1968 - 1968. Series: Civil Cases, 1/1965 - 12/1975. Record Group 21: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685 - 2009
In his final campaign before his death, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. lent his support to a strike by sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. This flyer was distributed to sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, asking them to “March for Justice and Jobs” on March 22, 1968. Included are directions for the route to be followed and instructions to the marchers to use “soul-force which is peaceful, loving, courageous, yet militant.”
Source: catalog.archives.gov
The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
On September 15, 1963, during President Kennedy’s third year in office, four members of United Klans of America, a Ku Klux Klan group, planted a box of dynamite under the steps of the 16th Street Baptist church, near the basement. At about 10:22 a.m., twenty-six children were walking into the basement assembly room when the bomb exploded. Four girls, Addie Mae Collins (14), Denise McNair (11), Carole Robertson (14), and Cynthia Wesley (14), were killed in the attack. Twenty two additional people were injured.
Immediately following the attacks, the White House was overwhelmed with mail, telegrams and donations to 16th Street Church. The JFK Library has put together an album that acts as a snapshot in time and includes reactions - both positive and negative - towards the civil rights movement.
