Memphis is the city where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed. King spent much of his final months there marching and delivering speeches.
“The exhibit that we have is a set of photographs that were donated to us. We don’t even really know where they came from. They just came in the mail one day. These are authentic photographs of people marching in Memphis.”
George Bayard III is Grand Rapids African American Museum & Archives Director and Curator.
“As we do our research, we think it is actually after Dr. King was killed. But they are complete with signage, and people and National Guards that were there at the time during that march.”
The photos are accompanied by Grand Rapids Press articles written during that time. A second exhibition is on display at Aquinas College. A series of portraits emphasizing Dr. King’s opposition to the Vietnam War.
“Ironically, he gave a speech at Riverside Church in New York exactly one year before he died. And that was one of his first speeches on his opposition to the Vietnam War. And that triggered a whole year of, not discontent but many of his followers left, many of his supporters left, and he was chastised by people in the Civil Rights Movement.”
Bayard explains Dr. King held true to his non-violence philosophy.