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Martin Luther King Jr. Collection

King Collection

We established the Office of the Morehouse College King Collection to oversee the conservation and preservation of the collection, to promote teaching, research, and scholarship, and to develop campus-based programming and community outreach initiatives that highlight the teachings and philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

File Boxes

Overview

The Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection represents much of Morehouse alumnus Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and work spanning from 1944 to 1968. The collection of approximately 10,000 items includes hundreds of handwritten notes, famous and lesser-known speeches, manuscripts, sermons, and other writings of unparalleled historical significance.

The collection also includes approximately 1,100 books from King’s library, many annotated with King’s handwritten notes. Other items include a telegram from President Lyndon B. Johnson inviting King to the signing of the Voting Rights Act, credit card receipts, travel coupons and a briefcase with cosmetics containers, examination blue books from college, to-do lists, correspondence, and memoranda to other famous leaders such as Andrew Young, Reverend Joseph Lowery, and Walter Fauntroy.

The collection allows insight into King’s thoughts, personality, ministerial preparation, organizational skills, and strategic planning during the civil rights period.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , ’48