Research Guides: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Learn more about Rev. Dr. King

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Fraternity Membership

Alpha Phi Alpha: "First of all, Servants of All, We Shall Transcend All"

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, a fraternity founded in 1906, and part of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, known as the Divine Nine. King joined the Boston Sigma chapter in 1952 while a student at Boston University.

Dr. King spoke at Alpha Phi Alpha chapters, and brothers supported his campaigns, continuing the principles of scholarship, fellowship, good character, and the uplifting of humanity that the organization stands for, making them an integral part of civil rights history.

Learn more about APA history, APA brothers and community during the civil rights movement, and about the history of the Divine Nine. (From Alpha Phi Alpha, The King Institute, and the National Museum of African American History & Culture)

In His Own Words: Writings of Rev. Dr. King. These are free ebooks.

Books available to borrow for CU affiliates

Looking for more books? Find them in the library catalog.

Learn more about the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. King

This page shares books, films, podcasts, and more. All resources are free and openly available through the included links unless otherwise noted.

For further learning we recommend: Martin Luther King, Jr. Research & Education Institute at Stanford University, National Museum of African American History & Culture at the Smithsonian, and the National Civil Rights Museum.

Further Recommended Resources

Dr. King's Speeches

Virtual Martin Luther King Jr. Project
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered “A Creative Protest", also commonly known as the “Fill Up the Jails” speech, in Durham, North Carolina after the start of the Greensboro sit-ins in February 1960.

No recording has been found of the speech -- for this project, scholars at NC State University worked with voice actor Marvin Blanks to reenact the speech and used advanced digital and audio technology to record his performance. This is the virtual exhibit of the project, sharing immersive audio experiences to engage listeners in the speech in a new way.
“Facing the Challenge of a New Age”
(48 minutes) Dr. King delivered this speech at the Third Annual Lectureship for the Wesley Foundation, Mankato, Minnesota, 1961. Alongside this recording of Dr. King speaking is a transcript of the speech and an article from the local newspaper about his visit.
"I Have a Dream"
(16 minutes) From the King Center.
Freedom’s Ring: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, animated
A project of The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University, directed by Clayborne Carson, in collaboration with Beacon Press’s King Legacy Series.
The Three Evils of Society
(43 minutes) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1967 speech at the National Conference on New Politics in Chicago. Here, he speaks about what he calls the Triple Evils: War, Racism and Poverty. From the King Center.
"I've Been to the Mountaintop!"
(43 minutes) Dr. King's final speech, delivered in Memphis, Tennessee, on 3 April 1968. From The King Center (Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.)

Podcasts

Looking back on Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech, 60 years later

7 minute listen. By Jessica Green on NPR's Morning Edition.
Was Martin Luther King Jr. more radical than we remember?

23 minute listen. Jonathan Eig, author of "King: A Life" joins Here & Now to discuss.
The Mothers Who Raised Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and James Baldwin

22 minute listen. Author Anna Malaika Tubbs joined 1A to talk about her new book "The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped A Nation."
King's Speech: we trace the evolution of King's dream, from a secret friendship to an experimental poem to the speech we all know today

35 minute listen. Kevin Young, Director of Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, and W. Jason Miller, Author of "Origins of the Dream: Hughes's Poetry and King's Rhetoric" discuss on Sidedoor, a podcast from the Smithsonian.

Open access film: free without CU login

King In The Wilderness: The Last Years of MLK Jr.’s Life - this full-length film from the Kunhardt Film Foundation and HBO Documentary Films "chronicles the final chapters of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life, revealing a conflicted leader who faced an onslaught of criticism from both sides of the political spectrum." - available for free in full on YouTube.
- For K-12 teachers: Learning Resources to accompany King in the Wilderness
History Alive! Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: The Last Five Years
Honor the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with living history interpreter John W. McCaskill as he chronicles the last five years of King’s life and shares other stories of the individuals who fought to end racial segregation and discrimination in the United States. (52 minute video)
Martin Luther King, Jr. urges people to vote
Footage of Dr. King delivering a speech in front of The Boys Market in Los Angeles, October 27, 1964. (8 minutes, from UCLA Library Film & Television Archive)

Films available to CU Boulder affiliates

King: A Filmed Record
Constructed from a wealth of archival footage, KING: A FILMED RECORD is a monumental documentary that follows Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from 1955 to 1968, in his rise from regional activist to world-renowned leader of the Civil Rights movement.
I Am Not Your Negro - James Baldwin and Race in America
In 1979, James Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent describing his next project, Remember This House. The book was to be a revolutionary, personal account of the lives and successive assassinations of three of his close friends--Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. At the time of Baldwin's death in 1987, he left behind only thirty completed pages of his manuscript. Now, in his incendiary new documentary, master filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished. The result is a radical, up-to-the-minute examination of race in America, using Baldwin's original words and flood of rich archival material.

Videos

"Martin Luther King Jr. Day" - this short video explains the history and purpose of the MLK Day holiday.
"Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: A Leader and a Hero" - (5 minute video from Scholastic)

Reading & Listening

Listen to "My Daddy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.", written by his son, Martin Luther King III. This video read-along includes images of the book's pages. If you want to read aloud or at your own pace, check out the book for free here.
Read the picture book I've seen the promised land : the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Walter Dean Myers.
For middle grade readers: Martin Luther King Jr. : dreaming of equality by Ann S Manheimer

Lesson Plans & Classroom Resources

National Education Association: Learning and Living the Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. - lesson plans and resources for Grades K-5, 6-8, and 9-12.
The King Center: Classroom Resources - interactive resources and lesson plans for grades K-5 and 6-12, with a curricular focus on Social Emotional Learning, Social Studies, History, and English/Language Arts.
PBS NewsHour: Classroom Resources:
- The March on Washington and its impact (grades 11-12, 50 minutes + activities)
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 'I Have a Dream' speech as a work of literature (grades 6-12, 50 minutes + activities)
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 'I Have a Dream' speech as visual text (grades 6-8, 50 minutes)
- Music and speeches at the March on Washington (grades 6-12, two 45-minute class periods)
- MLK Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" and the Capitol Hill attack (grades 9-12, 50 minutes + reading time)
Virtual MLK Project Teacher Professional Development & Instructional Units (grades 8-12, Language Arts and Social Studies/History)

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom March 1963:
Organized by civil rights leaders A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin, more than 250,000 people gathered for the March on Washington. Speakers included Congressman John Lewis, and concluded with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in what became known as the "I have a dream" speech.

This online collection from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture includes photographs, programs, flyers, and more.
Activism in the U.S.: Martin Luther King Jr.
This exhibit of photographs and archival news footage focuses on Dr. King's Nobel Prize and his assassination. From the Digital Public Library of America.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: Smithsonian Spotlight

Quotes in Context

"We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."

–Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution.” Speech given at the National Cathedral, March 31, 1968. Read the full text of the speech, including historical context and details, here.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

–Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963. Read the full text of the Letter here.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

–Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., speech delivered at the March on Washington, Aug. 28, 1963 ("I have a dream" speech.) Read a transcript of his speech in its entirety here.