Every third Monday in January, American honors the birth, life, and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This King Week celebrate the civil rights leader by reading, watching, and exploring materials created by and about King at the Emory Libraries.
Read texts about King:
Oxford African American Studies Center has a number of excellent short biographical articles on King. To find them, search for “Martin Luther King, Jr.”
John A. Kirk, Martin Luther King, Jr. (2005) A short introduction to King’s life and thought.
John A. Kirk, ed. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement: Controversies and Debates (2007) An overview of debates about King’s life and his role in the civil rights movement.
Peter Ling, Martin Luther King, Jr. (2002) – A biography that highlights the moral leadership of King after 1965.
Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-1963 (1988), Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-1965 (1998), At Canaan’s Edge: American in the King Years, 1965-1968 (2006) – Three-part narrative of the King years written for a popular audience.
Check out, view, or download sources created by King himself like this video of Rev. King’s “Mountaintop” speech, his final address given two days prior to his assassination on April 5th 1968. From Great Speeches Video Series, Volume 6.
Access versions of core works:
- Stride Toward Freedom (1958)
- Why We Can’t Wait including Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1964)
- Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
View digests of King’s speeches and writings:
- James M. Washington, ed. A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1986)
- Clayborne Carson, ed., The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1998)
- Clayborne Carson, A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King (2002)
Explore published primary sources on King:
Clayborne Carson, ed. The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1992-)
For questions about Emory’s general collections related to Martin Luther King, Jr. contact Emory’s African American Studies Librarian, Erica Bruchko.