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Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers a speech to a crowd of approximately 7,000 people on May 17, 1967 at UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza in Berkeley, California.
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Additional Reading

Kingā€™s own writings remain useful starting points for scholars interested in his life and thought. In addition to articles, he published four major books: Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story (1958), Strength to Love (1963), Why We Canā€™t Wait (1964), and Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967). Clayborne Carson (ed.), The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1992ā€“ ), is a multivolume collection that produced important new findings regarding Kingā€™s family roots, academic studies, and religious development, and his The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1998) is a compilation of Kingā€™s autobiographical writings.

David J. Garrow, Bearing the Cross (1986, reissued 2004), is meticulously researched; and Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters (1988), Pillar of Fire (1998), and At Canaanā€™s Edge (2006), a trilogy, remains the most comprehensive of the scholarly works on King, covering the years 1954 to 1968. Nonetheless, subsequent writings have shed new light on various aspects of the sources and evolution of Kingā€™s social and religious thought. These include Lewis V. Baldwin, There Is a Balm in Gilead: The Cultural Roots of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1991); Thomas F. Jackson, From Civil Rights to Human Rights: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Struggle for Economic Justice (2007); Mary King, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. (1999); Richard H. King, Civil Rights and the Idea of Freedom (1992); Richard Lischer, The Preacher King: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Word That Moved America (1995); Keith D. Miller, Voice of Deliverance: The Language of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Its Sources (1992); Eric J. Sundquist, Kingā€™s Dream (2009); and Richard Wayne Wills, Sr., Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Image of God (2009).

Other works that focus on periods of Kingā€™s life or particular protest movements in which he was involved include Glenn T. Eskew, But for Birmingham: The Local and National Movements in the Civil Rights Struggle (1997); David J. Garrow, Protest at Selma (1978); Michael K. Honey, Going Down Jericho Road: The Memphis Strike, Martin Luther Kingā€™s Last Campaign (2007); Troy Jackson, Becoming King: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Making of a National Leader (2008); Diane McWhorter, Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution (2001); and James R. Ralph, Jr., Northern Protest: Martin Luther King, Jr., Chicago, and the Civil Rights Movement (1993).

Clayborne Carson

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

  • Clayborne Carson
    The Ronnie Lott Director, Martin Luther King, Jr., Research & Education Institute, and Martin Luther King Jr. Centennial Professor, Stanford University.
  • David L. Lewis
    David Levering Lewis is the Julius Silver University Professor and a professor of history at New York University. He has authored and edited some ten books and has received two Pulitzer Prizes (for his volumes on W.E.B. DuBois), the Bancroft Prize, and the Francis Parkman Prize.

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Invalidated site: National Archives - Findings on MLK Assassination. Sep 28, 2026
Replaced photograph. Jul 02, 2026
Anniversary information added. Mar 31, 2026
Anniversary information added. Jan 11, 2026
Added cross-reference to Ebenezer Baptist Church. May 13, 2025
Questions and answers added. Feb 19, 2025
Cross-reference added. Sep 10, 2024
Added media. Aug 07, 2024
Media added. Jun 26, 2024
Cross-reference added. May 22, 2024
First paragraph modernization. Mar 19, 2024
Add new Web site: Temple University Sites - American Icons - Martin Luther King Jr. and the Myth of John Henry by Suet Yuk (Rainie) Au Yeung. Mar 07, 2024
Media added. Jan 10, 2024
Updated outdated language. Nov 30, 2023
Cross-reference added. Nov 17, 2023
Add new Web site: Bill of Rights Institute - Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Oct 27, 2023
Corrected display issue. Oct 05, 2023
Added cross-reference. Aug 09, 2023
Corrected display issue. Aug 09, 2023
Media added. Jun 01, 2023
Links added. May 11, 2023
Media added. Jan 11, 2023
Media added. Jan 10, 2023
Add new Web site: Louisiana State University - Libraries - Martin Luther King, Jr. Dec 03, 2022
Removed media. Sep 02, 2021
Media added. Jan 14, 2021
Removed video. Jan 11, 2021
Changed ā€œblackā€ to ā€œBlackā€ throughout article. Jul 27, 2020
Media added. Mar 11, 2020
Add new Web site: National Archives - Findings on MLK Assassination. Mar 28, 2018
Add new Web site: National Archives - Findings on MLK Assassination. Mar 28, 2018
Add new Web site: Mary Ferrell Foundation - Martin Luther King Assassination. Mar 28, 2018
Add new Web site: Mary Ferrell Foundation - Martin Luther King Assassination. Mar 28, 2018
Corrected display issue. Dec 15, 2017
Changed title of the "Assessment" section to "Legacy." Nov 15, 2017
Add new Web site: Smithsonian Channel - MLK's Last Speech. Feb 15, 2017
Add new Web site: Stanford University - The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute - Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Jul 06, 2016
Added video. Jan 29, 2016
Add new Web site: Stanford University - The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute - Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. May 15, 2015
Media added. Mar 02, 2015
Add new Web site: HistoryNet - Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Oct 27, 2014
Add new Web site: United States History - Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Oct 27, 2014
Add new Web site: ExplorePAhistory.com - Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Oct 27, 2014
Add new Web site: Social Studies for Kids - Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Jun 05, 2014
Add new Web site: Pennsylvania Center for the Book - Biography of Martin Luther King Jr. Mar 21, 2014
Add new Web site: African American Registry - Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Mar 21, 2014
Add new Web site: BlackPast.org - Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Mar 21, 2014
Add new Web site: Westminster Abbey - Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Mar 21, 2014
Add new Web site: US history.org - Biography of Martin Luther King Jr. Mar 21, 2014
Add new Web site: Buzzle.com - Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Mar 21, 2014
Add new Web site: Stanford University - Biography of King Jr. Martin Luther. Mar 06, 2013
Add new Web site: The History Learning Site - Martin Luther King. Jan 18, 2013
Add new Web site: Spartacus Educational - Biography of Martin Luther King. Jan 18, 2013
Add new Web site: America's Story from America's Library - Biography of Martin Luther King Jr. Jan 18, 2013
Add new Web site: Public Broadcasting Service - American Experience - Biography of Martin Luther King Jr. Jan 18, 2013
Add new Web site: University of Kentucky - Martin Luther King Center - Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Jan 18, 2013
Deleted video. Sep 14, 2011
Add new Web site: New Georgia Encyclopedia - Biography of Martin Luther King Jr. Jun 10, 2011
Add new Web site: British Broadcasting Corporation - Biography of Martin Luther King. May 26, 2011
Add new Web site: Buzzle.com - Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. May 26, 2011
Added photographs. Apr 07, 2011
Added video footage from 1960 television interview in which King discusses nonviolent resistence. Jan 28, 2010
New Historical significance and legacy and Assessment sections added. Jan 14, 2010
New bibliography added. Jan 14, 2010
Added new Web site: Enchanted Learning - Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Apr 13, 2009
Media added. May 12, 2008
Added new Web site: The Nobel Prize - Martin Luther King Jr. Feb 07, 2007
Added new Web site: King Encyclopedia - Martin Luther King Jr. Jan 31, 2007
Article revised and updated. Sep 07, 2006
Media added. Sep 07, 2006
Added new Web site: African National Congress - World Leaders Against Apartheid. Jul 12, 2006
Article revised. Mar 31, 2004
Article revised. Jun 13, 2003
Article revised. Apr 11, 2003
Article revised. Feb 16, 2001
Article revised. Jul 14, 1999
Article added to new online database. Jul 20, 1998
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