Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute
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Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute
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The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute at Stanford University assembles and disseminates comprehensive resources about King's life and the movements he inspired. Learn more at https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/.
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Happy birthday to Dexter King on his 65th birthday!

In the photo below, Dexter (striped shirt) enjoys a meal with Bernice, Coretta, Martin III, and Yolanda King at home.

Learn about Dexter's life and work here: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-dexter-...
Photograph by Bob Fitch, courtesy of the Bob Fitch Photography Archive, Stanford University Libraries.
January 30, 2026 at 5:01 PM
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Stanford's Dr. Lerone Martin & NC State's Dr. Jason Miller on MLK's Dream & Langston Hughes’s Poetry
In this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Ark Prof. Albert Cheng and Alisha Searcy of the Center for Public Schools speak with Dr. Lerone Martin, Martin Luther King...
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January 21, 2026 at 6:11 PM
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💫 Today the nation commemorates King's life and enduring legacy. How will you remember King today?

👉 Learn how the King National Holiday came to be: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-nationa...
Photograph by Carol M. Highsmith. Courtesy of the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-highsm-14492.
January 20, 2026 at 12:38 AM
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Happy birthday to Martin Luther King, Jr.! Today would have been King's 97th birthday. How will you celebrate King today? 🎊

Learn more: kinginstitute.stanford.edu
Photograph of King courtesy of the Bob Fitch Photography Archive, Stanford University Libraries.
January 15, 2026 at 4:56 PM
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We mourn the passing of Claudette Colvin. At just 15 years old, she refused to give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery bus and became a key figure in the legal battle that ended bus segregation. May her legacy and her bravery endure for generations.
Claudette Colvin, who refused to move seats on a bus at start of civil rights movement, dies at 86
Civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin has died. She was 86. Her 1955 arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery bus helped spark the modern civil rights movement.
apnews.com
January 14, 2026 at 7:54 PM
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Happy birthday to James Farmer, co-founder of the Congress of Racial Equality! Farmer was born 106 years ago today.🎊

Learn more: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/farmer-james
Photograph of James Farmer courtesy of the New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-38689.
January 12, 2026 at 9:01 PM
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Rare photographs of Rosa Parks and the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March have recently been discovered at Stanford University Library! Researchers found the never-printed images amongst photographer Matt Herron's contact sheets.

Learn more: news.stanford.edu/stories/2026...
Rosa Parks speaks in front of the Alabama State Capitol during the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March. Photograph courtesy of the Matt Herron photography archive (M2866). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California.
January 7, 2026 at 9:01 PM
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"He has an indescribable capacity for empathy that is the touchstone of leadership. By deed and by preachment, he has stirred in his people a Christian forbearance that nourishes hope and smothers injustice."

-"Man of the Year: Never Again Where He Was,” Time magazine, 3 January 1964.
The 3 January 1964 cover of Time magazine names Martin Luther King, Jr. as 1963's "Man of the Year" and features an illustration of King.
January 6, 2026 at 12:23 AM
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👀 Psst.....something NEW is here:

kinginstitute.stanford.edu/mapping-mlk
The Mapping MLK Project presents a revolutionary way to visualize King's movements across the globe. Trace his steps from Atlanta to the history books.
December 17, 2025 at 5:49 PM
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#OnThisDay in 1964: "I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down men other-centered can build up."
King's receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize is celebrated at a January 1965 dinner in Atlanta. Photograph courtesy of Lane Brothers Commercial Photographers Photographic Collection, 1920-1976, LBSCB12-120d, Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.
December 10, 2025 at 7:27 PM
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On January 15th, join us for an exclusive look into Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy through rare archival documents brought to life by Dr. Lerone Martin, Director of Stanford's MLK Research & Education Institute!
The King Institute and the Stanford Institute for Advancing Just Societies present MLK: Live from the Archives. Join us for an exclusive look into Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy through rare archival documents brought to life by Dr. Lerone Martin, director of Stanford's MLK Research and Education Institute. Thursday, January 15th, 2026, 4:30 pm-6:30 pm Simonyi Conference Center, 4th floor CoDa Building, 389 Jane Stanford Way Tour the new MLK Research and Education Institute space Tours available prior to the event, between 2:00 pm-4:00 pm Tour location: The King Institute 450 Jane Stanford Way, Building 370 Cosponsored by the Department of African and African American Studies and the School of Humanities and Sciences.
December 9, 2025 at 7:34 PM
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#OTD in 1955, the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was founded to guide a mass boycott of the city's segregated bus system. As the organization's president, King encouraged all Black citizens to participate, saying, "the great glory of American democracy is the right to protest for right."
The image is from the cover of Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story, a 16-page comic book about the Montgomery bus boycott published by the Fellowship of Reconciliation in 1958. Written by Alfred Hassler and Benton Resnik with illustrations by Sy Barry, the comic helped to disseminate the principles of nonviolent direct action.
December 5, 2025 at 7:01 PM
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70 years ago today, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, after refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus.

Learn more here: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/parks-rosa
Photograph of Rosa Parks by Bob Fitch, courtesy of the Bob Fitch Photography Archive, Stanford University Libraries.
December 1, 2025 at 6:31 PM
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🎥Watch the grand opening celebration of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University!

This special event featured a panel discussion with Dr. Lerone Martin, Martin Luther King III, Arndrea King, Evan Spiegel, and Marina Limón at Stanford's Memorial Church.
A Legacy Lives On: The Grand Opening of the New MLK Institute at Stanford!
YouTube video by MLK Jr. Research and Education Institute
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November 25, 2025 at 6:18 PM
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After FBI director J. Edgar Hoover called him "the most notorious liar in America," King released a 19 November 1964 statement in response: "He has apparently faltered under the awesome burdens, complexities and responsibilities of his office."
Photograph of King by Cees de Boer, Noord-Hollands Archief / Fotoburo de Boer.
November 20, 2025 at 1:02 AM
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🎊Happy birthday to Yolanda Denise King, who would have been 70 today!

📸Bob Fitch Photography Archive, © Stanford University Libraries.
Photograph of Yolanda King in 1968 by Bob Fitch, courtesy of the Bob Fitch Photography Archive, Stanford University Libraries.
November 17, 2025 at 7:36 PM
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✨ Two Generations, One Vision ✨

Martin Luther King, Jr., speaks at Stanford University in 1967, and Martin Luther King III speaks at Stanford University in 2025.

🎥 Watch King, Jr.’s powerful 1967 "The Other America" speech: searchworks.stanford.edu/view/1738074
Martin Luther King, Jr., speaks at Stanford in 1967: "If the race problem in America is to be solved, the white person must treat the Negro right not merely because the law says it, but because it's natural, because it's right, and because the Negro is his brother. And so I realize that if we are to have a truly integrated society, men and women will have to rise to the majestic heights of being obedient to the unenforceable." Photograph courtesy of Stanford University Libraries. Martin Luther King III speaks at Stanford's Memorial Church during the 2025 King Institute grand opening event: "The most important thing that I hope people know and learn is that the vision that he had was inclusive for everyone, no matter who and where you were. And if we could use that model and embrace that model, we really could transform the world for all humankind." Photograph by David Gonzales, @gonzalesphoto.
November 3, 2025 at 9:20 PM
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After the panel discussion at Stanford University's Memorial Church, guests were invited back to the King Institute for tours and a reception in our new space as well as a book signing with the Kings. Thank you to all who celebrated with us! 🎉

📷: David Gonzales @gonzalesphoto
Photograph by David Gonzales. Guests explore the King Institute's exhibit on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life during the open house event. Photograph by David Gonzales. Guests explore the King Institute's exhibit on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life during the open house event. Photograph by David Gonzales. Martin Luther King, III, and Arndrea Waters King sign books during the King Institute's open house event. Photograph by David Gonzales. Guests and volunteers enjoy the reception during the King Institute's open house event.
October 30, 2025 at 5:52 PM
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The King Institute was delighted to launch our grand opening celebration with a distinguished panel discussion at Stanford's Memorial Church, featuring esteemed guests Evan Spiegel '12; Arndrea Waters King; Marina Limón '25; Martin Luther King, III; and Dr. Lerone Martin.
Photograph by David Gonzales. Panel guests Evan Spiegel; Arndrea Waters King; Marina Limón; Martin Luther King, III; and Dr. Lerone Martin speak at Stanford's Memorial Church during the King Institute's grand opening celebration. Photograph by David Gonzales. Dr. Lerone Martin speaks at Stanford's Memorial Church. Photograph by David Gonzales. Panel guests Evan Spiegel; Marina Limón; Arndrea Waters King; Martin Luther King, III; and Dr. Lerone Martin pose within Stanford's Memorial Church. Photograph by David Gonzales. Panel guests Evan Spiegel; Arndrea Waters King; Marina Limón; Martin Luther King, III; and Dr. Lerone Martin speak at Stanford's Memorial Church during the King Institute's grand opening celebration.
October 28, 2025 at 6:35 PM
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Happy birthday to Martin Luther King, III! As we celebrate your special day, may your tireless pursuit of love and equality embolden us all to strive for a brighter tomorrow! 🎉

Read more here: kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-martin-...
Martin Luther King III speaks to a Stanford University classroom. Photograph by David Gonzales, @GonzalesPhoto.
October 23, 2025 at 10:09 PM
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This weekend, we were thrilled to host Stanford alumni—including former King Institute affiliates, employees, and student researchers—for #StanfordReunion! Thank you so much for visiting. We were proud to show you our new space!
Visitors explore the King Institute's exhibit that chronicles major events in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life. King Institute director Dr. Martin poses with one of the Institute's former student researchers. Stanford alumni tour the King Institute's new office space on the Main Quad. Stanford alumni tour the King Institute's new office space on the Main Quad.
October 20, 2025 at 3:44 PM
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There’s something powerful about being in a sacred space — you can feel the weight of history, the celebrations held, the tears shed, the prayers that have been whispered, the peace that lingers in the air.
October 15, 2025 at 8:16 PM
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Wonderful evening at Stanford celebrating the grand opening of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. Honored to reflect on my father’s legacy of scholarship and activism and moved by the passion of young people continuing his work.

stanforddaily.com/2025/10/15/s...
Stanford celebrates grand opening of Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute
The grand opening in Memorial Church included a panel highlighting King’s legacy as a scholar, activist and human being. The Institute will digitize the King Papers to expand global access, inspiring ...
stanforddaily.com
October 15, 2025 at 3:41 PM
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🎉 It's #Friday and we're more focused on our party prep than King is on sinking that tricky shot 🎱️!

Don't forget to RSVP for our Tuesday, October 14th Grand Opening. See the link below for details!
King plays pool in Chicago in 1966. Photograph by Bob Fitch, courtesy of the Bob Fitch Photography Archive, Stanford University Libraries.
October 10, 2025 at 10:26 PM
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This week in 1963, attorney general Robert F. Kennedy authorized the FBI to wiretap the phones at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Atlanta headquarters as well as at King's home. He later claimed there would have been “no living with the Bureau” if he had not signed the authorization.
Attorney general Robert F. Kennedy (left) meets with civil rights leaders including King, Dorothy Height, Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young, and A. Philip Randolph in the White House's Rose Garden on 22 June 1963. Photograph by Cecil Stoughton, courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, White House Photographs.
October 8, 2025 at 9:28 PM