Martin Luther King Jr. Day is on Monday, January 15th. On this day, we celebrate the life and birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It is a day to remember and reflect on his work for the advancement of civil rights.
Dr. King was born in 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended Morehouse College and studied medicine and law, but ultimately he became a minister. He earned a doctorate in systematic theology from Boston University, where he met his wife. Dr. King and his family settled in Montgomery, Alabama.
In 1955, the Montgomery Bus Boycott captured the nation after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white passenger. Dr. King became the official spokesperson for the protest.
Dr. King helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which organized nonviolent movements and protests. At the March on Washington in 1963, Dr. King delivered his powerful and influential "I Have a Dream” speech to an audience of an estimated 250,000 people. Through the fervent advocacy of civil rights by Dr. King and other movement leaders, such as John Lewis, A. Philip Randolph, and Whitney Young Jr., President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on July 2, 1964. The Civil Rights Act was introduced into Congress and passed on August 2, 1965. Dr. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in having this landmark legislation passed.
He was fighting for sanitation workers’ rights in Memphis before he was assassinated on April 4, 1968. His fight for civil rights and equality will always be remembered.
Fun fact: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was at the Grinton I. Will Library (at the time it was known as the Sprain Brook Branch) on August 28, 1964 for a voter registration drive.
Michael Walsh is an Adult Services Librarian at the Will Library. He is currently reading American Knights: the Untold Story of the Men of the Legendary 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion by Victor Failmezger.
Alison Robles is a part-time page at the Crestwood Library. She is an avid reader with a passion for YA lit, historical fiction and fantasy. A Yonkers native, she graduated from Iona University in 2020 with a dual-degree in Marketing and Public Relations. She is pursuing an MS in Information and Library Science from the University at Buffalo.