In the story of the black civil rights
movement of the 1950s and 1960s,
many figures contributed to the substantial
gains made in the United
States toward eliminating racial discrimination.
But the figure who
came to personify the cries for equality
in those decades was the Atlanta
preacher Martin Luther King Jr.
(1929–1968). A key strategist in such
events as the forcing of bus integration
in Montgomery, Alabama, in
1955–1956 and in the nonviolent
protests leading to the landmark
civil rights legislation of the 1960s,
King is best remembered by many
for his impassioned eloquence.
I have a dream that one day …
this great nation will rise up and
live out the true meaning of its
creed: “We hold these truths to
be self-evident, that all men are
created equal.”
These emotion-laden words, which he spoke at Washington,
D.C.’s Lincoln Memorial as part of the March on
Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963,
have become classic in the annals of American oratory.
In 1968 an assassin’s bullet struck King down. By then,
however, the impact of his work was already deeply felt,
and it was clear that at least part of his vision for a society
founded on racial equality had been realized.
Taking a Closer Look
Boris Chaliapin, who painted this
portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. for
the cover of Time in 1957, was a frequent
cover-maker for the magazine.
Painted in a meticulously realistic
style, it includes a vignette in the
lower left foreground that indicates
the occasion for which the likeness
was created—the triumphant close
in the struggle to integrate buses in
Montgomery, Alabama. What other
background elements in the painting
contribute to your understanding
about King’s role in the civil
rights movement?
Martin Luther King Jr.’s leadership
contributed substantially to many important
advancements toward racial
equality, including passage of the Civil
Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting
Rights Act in 1965. Learn more about King, listen to excerpts
from many of his speeches, and explore an interactive
chronology of his life at the following Web site:
The Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project at Stanford
University
Above:
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) by Boris
Chaliapin (1904–1979), watercolor and pencil on
board, 1957. Gift of Time magazine
