Introduction: In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to learn more about the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.”
Today we honor the civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This federal holiday was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. Although observance of the holiday didn’t officially begin until 20 January 1986, it was originally suggested after the assassination of King in 1968.*
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)
By 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a well-known leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He began gaining prominence in 1955 by leading the Montgomery bus boycott in Alabama. His “I Have a Dream Speech,” given in 1963 during the March on Washington, laid out his vision for race relations in the United States. In 1964 he won the Nobel Peace Prize, honoring his work.
With all that he had accomplished by 1964, there was still much more to do – and King kept organizing, speaking, and leading protests. He was in Memphis, Tennessee, in the early days of April 1968 supporting striking African American sanitation workers.
On 3 April 1968 King gave his speech “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” in Memphis to a gathering at the Church of God in Christ. His flight to Memphis had been delayed due to a bomb threat. In that April 3 speech he addressed threats to his life:
Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.**
King’s hope for a long life would not materialize. That speech would be the last one he would give. The next day, on the evening of 4 April 1968 as he stood on the balcony outside of room 306 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, he was shot in the head by an assassin. King was only 39 years of age. An ironic end to a man whose life was dedicated to peace.
Journalist Jimmy Breslin wrote a powerful column describing the last moments of King’s life and the moment the bullet hit him:
The shot came and it caught Martin Luther King on the right side of his face, by the jawbone. It was a .30 caliber bullet and it lifted him off his feet and he fell backwards on the cement walkway with his hands over his head and his eyes opened very wide and his life came out of him quickly. He was 39 and he was a Nobel Prize winner and for 14 years he had tried to keep a country from falling apart and now he had been killed by one shot from a rifle.
The Aftermath
Eulogies and remembrances of King filled the newspapers. These articles touched on the sorrow of a nation mourning a man who preached peace but died a most violent death. In the case of the Milwaukee Star, not only were its pages filled with remembrances but they asked citizens their thoughts on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This page includes the name of those providing the information and their photo.
The quote by Janice Brost sums up what many others were feeling:
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a minister of God, wanted more than anything else in the world, to see the day when the command: “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” would not be questioned – I can imagine it must’ve been difficult for such a man to fully realize why people would rather hate than love. One consolation is that he is now in the hands of “Love.”
After the assassination, President Lyndon B. Johnson called for a national day of mourning.
King’s killer, James Earl Ray, was apprehended two months later and eventually confessed to the crime in March 1969. To avoid a possible death sentence conviction, he pled guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in prison (later increased to 100 years because of an escape attempt). Although Ray’s fingerprints were on the weapon and he confessed to the crime, he later retracted his confession and continued to maintain his innocence. Ray died in prison in 1998 at the age of 70 years.
Just as the Kennedy assassination triggered alternative theories of the events that unfolded, so too did the King assassination. Some pointed the finger at the U.S. government and the FBI, mysterious unknown assailants, and even the mafia. In 1978 a journalism professor named Bynum Shaw studied the evidence as part of a 1971 assignment given by Esquire magazine. Like the House Assassinations Committee, he concluded that James Earl Ray was the killer. Shaw rejected the notion that King’s killing was due to an FBI plot, as had been asserted by Ray’s attorney, J.B. Stoner.
Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Today we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Consider spending some time reading the texts of his speeches, learning more about his life from newspaper articles, or visiting the King Center website. It’s also a good time to ask your family who are old enough to remember the assassination how they heard about King’s death, and their feelings about it.
Note: An online collection of newspapers, such as GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives, is not only a great way to learn about the lives of your ancestors – the old newspaper articles also help you understand American history and the times your ancestors lived in, and the news they talked about and read in their local papers. Do you have memories of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? Please share your stories with us in the comments section below.
Related Articles:
- Martin Luther King Jr.: Brief Genealogy & Family Tree Download
- Martin Luther King Jr. Leads Montgomery Civil Rights March
- 46th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Assassination
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* “Martin Luther King Jr. Day,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr._Day: accessed 10 January 2017).
** “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” The King Center (http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/document/ive-been-mountaintop#: accessed 5 January 2017).