To learn more about this collection please see the finding aid link found above, and/or visit the College and Lutheran Church Archives to use these primary sources.
Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture Collection, 1986-Ongoing. GACA Collection 241. ½ Hollinger box, 1 oversize folder, and digital media.
ABSTRACT:
The Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture Planning Materials collection consists of papers, photocopies, and clippings concerning the annual Martin Luther King Jr. lectures. Also included are posters, programs, and audio/video recordings. Lectures are held each year at Gustavus Adolphus College on the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.
“The annual lecture was first held in 1986. Speakers are champions of civil rights and non-violence; their work, and the work of their organizations, reflects the same principles advocated by Dr. King. Over the years, a number of the lecturers have worked directly with Dr. King.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Lecture was instituted by the Peace Studies program at Gustavus Adolphus College to honor the legacy of Dr. King. Initially housed solely in Peace Studies, the lecture typically did not occur on the national holiday honoring Dr. King. Since 2010, the lecture has been a cooperative campus effort and held on the annual day of remembrance.”
*Taken from the website https://gustavus.edu/events/mlk/history.php 10 November 2020.
| 1986 | Vivian Jenkins Nelson, Hubert Humphrey Institute, Director of Administration |
| 1987 | Dr. Richard Green, Superintendent of Minneapolis Schools |
| 1989 | Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr., Close associate of MLK, Jr., Director of Peace Education at Gustavus from 1974-77 |
| 1990 | Dr. Bernard Powers, Professor of History, N.E. Illinois, University of Chicago |
| 1991 | Dorothy Cotton, Founding Member of Southern Christian Leadership Conference |
| 1993 | Bernice Reagon, “Sweet Honey in the Rock” Gospel Group |
| 1994 | Cornell West, Professor, Princeton University; Prominent Public Intellectual |
| 1995 | Arun Gandhi, Institute for the Study of Nonviolence, TN; Grandson of Mohandas Gandhi |
| 1996 | Dr. Michael Harper, Professor of English, Brown University; Poet Laureate of Rhode Island |
| 1998 | Charles Rankin, Professor of Education, Kansas State University |
| 1999 | Dr. Bill Green (GAC ’72), Professor of History, Augsburg College, MN; Former Chair of Minneapolis School Board |
| 2000 | Martin Luther King III, son of Martin Luther King, Jr. |
| 2001 | Dr. John Wright, Professor of English and African American Studies, University of Minnesota |
| 2002 | Dr. Philip Bryant, Associate Professor of English, Gustavus Adolphus College |
| 2003 | Dr. Miroslav Volf, Croatian Theologian, Yale;“Living with the Other” |
| 2004 | William Greaves, African American Filmmaker on the life of Ralph Bunche |
| 2005 | Major Brent Beardsley, Eyewitness to the Rwandan Genocide and former Canadian peacekeeper |
| 2006 | Sal y Luz: Peace Churches in Columbia, Representatives from the churches |
| 2007 | “Stories of Loss, Hope, and the Power of Nonviolent Activism,” September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows |
| 2008 | Mixed Blood Theatre performance and Homily by Dr. Bill Green; “Nonviolence for an Age of Terrorism,” Dr. David Cortright, Fourth Freedom Forum |
| 2009 | Dr. Henry Williams, Laird Bell Professor of History at Carleton College |
| 2010 | Rev. C.T. Vivian, Close friend and Lieutenant of Dr. King during the civil rights movement |
| 2011 | Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr., Co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1960 |
| 2012 | Taylor Branch, Pulitzer Prize winning author, arguably the preeminent biographer of King; “Myths and Miracles for the King Years” |
| 2013 | Dr. Cathy J. Cohen, Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago; “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the Age of Obama: Building a New Movement for the 21st Century” |
| 2014 | Diane Nash, Key figure of the civil rights movement of the 1960s; “Reflections on the Civil Rights Movement” |
| 2015 | Rev. Dr. Jamie Washington, President and Co-Founder of the Washington Consulting Group and the Social Justice Training Institute |
| 2016 | Dr. Rashad Shabazz, Associate Professor in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University; “Why Geography Matters in the Struggle for Racial Justice” |
| 2017 | Jonathan L. Walton, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard University and Pusey Minister in Harvard’s Memorial Church; “It Was All a Dream…” |
| 2018 | Dr. Joyce Ladner, civil rights activist and sociologist |
| 2019 | Rev. Dr. Luke Powery, Dean of Duke University Chapel and Associate Professor of Homiletics at Duke Divinity School; “Diversity in Adversity: Martin Luther King Jr., and the Promise of the ‘World House’” |
| 2020 | Donzaleigh Abernathy, “Growing Up with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” |
