The Archive

Dr. King announces the details for a rally in San Francisco, California to garner support for the pending Civil Rights Bill in Congress. He makes a call to action for various diverse groups to join in this initiative.

This transcript of a passionate, poetic, and inspiring speech touches on many of King's motifs. It starts with an appeal for voting rights, addresses the despair the audience feels from time to time, and ends with a refrain of "we shall overcome."

This issue of the Oberlin Alumni Magazine features commencement articles and photos as well as Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution, Dr. King’s address to the graduating class.

This is a handwritten draft of the Nobel lecture. Dr. King delivered this lecture at the University of Oslo on December 11, 1964, the day after receiving the Peace Prize. Aware of the prestigious nature of the award and the global recognition it brought to the nonviolent struggle for racial justice in the US, King worked nearly a month on his address. He goes beyond his dream for America and articulates a vision of a World House in which a family of different races, religions, ideas, cultures and interests must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

Reverend Walter E. Fauntroy's keynote address to the SCLC informs his listeners of the trials and the triumphs of African-Americans in the US. Fauntroy focuses primarily on the subject nonviolence and provides his listeners with a summary of the progress that blacks have made since the start of the Civil Rights Movement.

Dr. King delivers this address speaking to humanity's failure to offset discrimination. He believes the United States, with all its technological and democratic advances, could stand to learn from the social morality of India, which is considered a "less developed nation." Dr.

Dr. King addresses violations of First Amendment Rights in this statement regarding the events at Birmingham, Alabama in 1963.

This article summarizes the consequences that derive from the House Un-American Activities Committee labeling Civil Rights leaders as communists.

Dr. King issued this statement regarding the "unfortunate and disastrous" Republican Party's nomination of Senator Barry Goldwater for the Presidency of the United States. The Reverend expounds on his disapproval of the nomination by stating that he represents an unrealistic conservation that is totally out of touch with the realities of the twentieth century.

This is the text of an address given by Vice President Richard Nixon before the sixty-sixth annual convention of the General Federation of Women's Club. He discusses the differences in countries dealing with Communism and America being a democracy.

Georgia State Legislature has refused to seat Representative-Elect Julian Bond. Dr. King expresses his disdain for the social injustice. His plan of action is to combat this prejudice by rallying members of the white and black community to engage in protest.

Dr. King addresses the importance of the Chicago Adult Education Project and the impact it would have on the Lawndale community. Issues of discrimination, segregation, racism, and oppression have lead to constant riots and violence in this densely populated area. Dr. King submits the idea that, to cure the issue of the "ghetto", Americans and the government must work to eradicate the causes by offering better education, better housing, and fair wages instead of "anti-riot" legislation.

In his address to the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. King discusses the subject of the "Church on the Frontier of Racial Tension." King describes the crisis state of the US as it passes from an old order of segregation to a new order of integration, proclaiming that this is both a moral issues as well as a political issues. King implores the church to open the channels of communication between races and institute social reform, especially economic justice. Lastly, he invites all people to step into the new age with understanding and creative good will in their hearts.

Dr. Kind addresses the press' claim that civil rights leaders are involved in the outbreak of riots in New York. He says that violence creates more social problems than it solves. He says that government officials need to take responsibility and help all American citizens gain justice and equality.

The SCLC issues a press release, which discloses the text of telegram from Dr. King to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

Corretta Scott King discusses the privilege of being able to experience a great social revolution based on love and nonviolence, as inspired by the teachings of Jesus and Gandhi. She identifies Rosa Park's personal protest on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama as the beginning of the southern struggle and consequent revolution. She goes on to describe how this simple act aroused a great movement across the south, ultimately leading to the creation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in January of 1957.

In this draft of his 1967 speech, "A Journey of Conscience," Dr. King provides the many reasons he so strongly opposes the war in Vietnam. He writes of how he first felt it was important to remain silent, but gradually felt compelled to speak out, as the US made no initiatives toward peace. He points at that the war abroad takes away our focus on our problems at home, and we must "combine the fervor of the civil rights movement with the peace movement."

In this statement made from the Albany, Georgia city jail where he was imprisoned, Dr. King expresses appreciation for President Kennedy's support of negotiation between Albany's City Commission and civil rights leaders.

The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights released these remarks by Dr. King marking the end of the Birmingham Nonviolent Direct Action Campaign. King describes the day as a climax in the long struggle for justice and freedom in Birmingham and gives credit to Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, to the thousands who went to jail, to the whites who worked for just solutions and to God. He speaks of the need for continued progress toward equal job opportunities, equal access to public facilities, and equal rights and responsibilities.

Dr. King expresses his appreciation for being honored by Freedom House. He also pays tribute to the life and work of John F. Kennedy while encourging others to honor his memory through their dedication to civil rights.

Dr. King addresses the Democratic National Committee urging them to stand up against the inequities that prevent Negro participation in the political process in the state of Mississippi.

Dr. King discusses the events in Montgomery, Alabama as a catalyst in what will become a new world. He stresses that the honor he receives from the Garden Association is not just for him, but for the fifty thousand supporters of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

In his acceptance speech at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo, Norway, Dr. King dedicates his award to the nonviolent struggle necessary for overcoming the oppression and violence afflicting American Negroes.

Dr. King introduces Senator Edward M. Kennedy at a SCLC banquet and highlights his accomplishments.

Dr. King lauds President Johnson's speech to a joint session of Congress, which he describes as an eloquent, unequivocal and passionate plea for human rights. This statement and the President's address occurred during the height of the Selma voting rights campaign.

Dr. King speaks at a luncheon launching the Gandhi Society on May 17, 1962, citing the great significance of the day: the anniversary of the US Supreme Court decision declaring school segregation unconstitutional, the 100th anniversary of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the centennial of the death of Henry David Thoreau, whose essay on civil disobedience influenced Gandhi. He announces that earlier that day he sent President Kennedy a document seeking an executive order proclaiming all forms of segregation to be a violation of the US Constitution.

This is an address given by Dr. King to District 65 of the National AFL-CIO Convention in Miami, Beach. Dr. King recognizes their contribution to the Southern Christen Leadership Conference.

Dr. King outlines his plan for civil rights goals in Selma, Alabama.

In this statement to the press, Dr. King comments on the Watts Riots that took place in Los Angeles, California. He further discusses the economic, social and racial inequalities that he feels were the cause of the violence.

Robert Clifton Weaver, the first United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, encloses a statement made by Dr. King for Joseph Califano, assistant to President Johnson. Dr. King announces a slum area housing redevelopment project in the Chicago areas of Lawndale, East Garfield Park and Kenwood Oakland.