“We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 to April 4, 1968) requires no introduction. A Baptist minister and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, King began his civil rights activism by leading the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott (a 385 day protest in response to the arrest of Rosa Parks) at the age of twenty-seven. He then marched on to Albany, Birmingham, Selma, Montgomery and finally Washington, DC, thus placing himself front and center within the churning, controversial and oftentimes explosive subject of racism in America. Long after his assassination in 1968, King’s legacy is still felt to this day. Although a lot has changed since the segregated society of the first half of the twentieth century, some would argue that the road to racial reconciliation is not yet complete. But a lot of credit must be made to Dr. King, a man who took his oratory skills and a heck of a lot of courage to initiate the strides for the embracement of ethnic diversity.
In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we collected some compelling images from the Library of Congress and NY Public Library collections. Think of it as a visual time capsule into a time where people literally had to fight for the right to sit at the counter of a restaurant or take their place on any seat in any public transport. Or be arrested for entering a classroom because of the color of their skin. Immortalized is the man himself who worked tirelessly against discrimination and, ultimately, the treatment of the underprivileged.
Left: Martin Luther King Jr. birth home, 501 Auburn Avenue, Atlanta, GA. Photo credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Right: flyer annoucning a Youth Leadership Meeting being held on April 15-17, 1960. It features the name of Martin Luther King jr. who was the co-founder of the Southern Leadership Confernce.
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Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders meet with President John F. Kennedy in the oval office of the White House after the march on Washington, DC. Photo credit: photographer Warren K. Leffler, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
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Left: portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. at podium after meeting with President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House, 1963. Photo credit: Library of Congress/WKL. Right: King delivering his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial, 1963.
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Civil rights march on Washington, D.C. Photo credit: photographer Warren K. Leffler, Library of Congress/WKL
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A contact sheet featuring images of the Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. King can be seen in frames 15, 16, 28 and 29. Photo credit: Warren K. Leffler, Library of Congress/WKL
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Left: Activist Daisy Bates picketing with a placard, 1957. Photo credit: NY Public Library Digital Collection. Right: African American demonstrators outside the White House with signs protesting police brutality against the civil rights demonstrators in Selma, Alabama. Photo credit: Warren K. Leffler, Library of Congress/WKL
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Eric Cohen has a varied background having worked in Film, Theater and the image licensing industry. He contributes to the pop culture website thisinfamous.com as both a writer and content creator and produces and co-hosts the irreverent YouTube film discussion show The CineFiles as well as its ongoing podcast. He has also been a freelance videographer, editor and motion graphics designer for six years.
