Martin Luther King, Jr., Day
Since 1986, the third Monday in January has marked the federal holiday
celebrating the life and work of famed civil rights leader Reverend Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.. In 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed federal
legislation creating a national holiday (Act of Nov. 2, 1983, Pub.L.No.
98-144, 97 Stat. 917 (making the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. a legal
public holiday, codified at
5 U.S.C. sec. 6103(a))). When signing the law, President Reagan
commented "Dr. King had awakened something strong and true, a sense that
true justice must be colorblind, and that among white and black Americans,
as he put it, 'Their destiny is tied up with our destiny, and their freedom
is inextricably bound to our freedom; we cannot walk alone.'" At the signing
Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr., also spoke:
"America is a more democratic nation, a more just nation, a more peaceful
nation because Martin Luther King, Jr., became her preeminent nonviolent
commander." (II Ronald Reagan, Pub. Papers, 1529, 1529-30 (1983)(President
Reagan's signing statement of Nov. 2, 1983)).
Washington State approved the state school holiday in 1984 and New
Hampshire became the last state to officially honor the holiday in 1999.
Born on January 15th, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, Martin Luther King Jr.
fought segregation through the 1950s and 60s. He was shot and killed on
April 4th, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee by James Earl Ray.
Materials Available in Gallagher Law Library
- The Trial of Martin Luther King, by Alan F. Westin & Barry
Mahoney (Crowell, 1974). KF224.K56W48 at Classified Stacks
The story of the landmark Supreme Court case upholding Alabama's contempt
conviction of Martin Luther King Jr. and others for violating an
injunction against parading without a permit on April 12, 1963, Good
Friday, in Birmingham, Alabama (Walker v. City of Birmingham, 388 U.S. 307
(1967)). The legal scholars analyzed legal documents and interviewed
defendants, witnesses, and lawyers involved in the case.
- Investigation of the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.:
Hearings Before the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U.S. House
of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, Second Session (U.S. Govt.
Printing Office, 1979). E185.97.K5A8 1979 at Classified Stacks
A thirteen volume set containing the Hearings held Aug. 14-Dec. 1, 1978.
Websites
- Martin Luther King Jr., The Seattle Times,
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/mlk/, contains Seattle Times articles
and photos concerning Martin Luther King Jr. and civil rights issues. The
site also contains:
- audio excerpts from three speeches: "I have a dream" (1963), "Let
freedom ring" (1963), and "Promised land" (1968)
- dozens of photos of King and civil rights demonstrators
participating in freedom marches and sit-ins throughout the country
- civil rights movement timeline (e.g., in 1978 Seattle became "the
largest city in the United States to desegregate its schools without a
court order; nearly one-quarter of the school district's students are
bused as part of the "Seattle Plan." Two months later, voters pass an
anti-busing initiative. It is later ruled unconstitutional.")
- collection of websites (in the Interactive Classroom section) to
sites such as the King Center, the National Civil Rights Museum, and
photos from the Life magazine tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.
- Martin Luther King Jr., Day of Service at the University of
Washington,
http://depts.washington.edu/mlkjr/index2.html, a website providing
details about the organized community volunteer activities for UW
students, faculty, staff, and alumni to engage in on the Martin Luther
King Jr. holiday (Monday January 21, 2002). People across America will be
participating in similar volunteer activities in recognition of the civil
rights leader's commitment to service.
Book(s) of the Week
If you are looking for inspiration about different roles in the practice
of law, you might enjoy these biographies and autobiographies of lawyers
(all of which are located in the Classified Stacks):
- A Season for Justice: The Life and Times of Civil Rights Lawyer
Morris Dees, by Morris Dees with Steve Fiffer (Charles Scribner’s
Sons, 1991. KF373.D43A3 1991
- Ould Fields, New Corne: The Personal Memoirs of a Twentieth Century
Lawyer, by Erwin N. Griswold (West Publishing, 1992). KF373.G745A3
1992
- Groundwork: Charles Hamilton Houston and the Struggle for Civil
Rights, by Genna Rae McNeil (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983).
KF373.H644M3 1983
- William M. Kunstler: The Most Hated Lawyer in America, by David
J. Langum (New York University Press, 1999). KF373.K8 L36 1999
- Lawyer: A Life of Counsel and Controversy, by Arthur L. Liman
with the assistance of Peter Israel (Public Affairs, 1998). KF373.L496A3
1998
- Law and Justice in the Reagan Administration: The Memoirs of an
Attorney General, by William French Smith (Hoover Institution Press,
1991). KF373.S59A37 1991
- Rebels in Law: Voices in History of Black Women Lawyers, edited
by J. Clay Smith Jr. (University of Michigan Press, 1998). KF299.A35R43
1998
- Gerry Spence: Gunning for Justice, by Gerry Spence & Anthony
Polk (Doubleday, 1982). KF373.S64A34 1982
- A Question of Choice, by Sarah Weddington (Putnam’s, 1992).
Q767 .W38 1992
For additional descriptions of selected books see the
Book of the Week Archive.
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