Martin Luther King Commencement Speech - Transcription (June 14, 1964)
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- Created Date
- 1964-06-14
- Description
In 1964, Springfield College shared a moment in history often overlooked by historians with honorary degree recipient and commencement speaker Martin Luther King Jr.Despite significant pressure from prominent shareholders and benefactors of the College, college President Glenn A. Olds, a minister and conscientious objector during World War II, refused to waver from his decision to make Martin Luther King Commencement speaker for the 1964 Graduation ceremonies. When King was arrested the day before, Olds contacted law enforcement officials, telling them that if they continued to hold King, school officials would fly down to tape the commencement address, leaving St. Augustine to deal with the attendant publicity. Whether or not his intervention played a role, King was released on a nine hundred dollar bond Saturday afternoon. Met at the airport by Springfield College Economics Professor Robert Randolph, later the first black president of the Massachusetts State College System at Westfield State, King toured the campus, gave a press conference, and shared a brief luncheon with faculty and administration. On the day of commencement, Black Muslim protestors who felt King was too conciliatory and bomb-sniffing dogs greeted the graduating class. Springfield College alumnus Joe Brown (class of 2014) transcribed the speech and made the corrections.
This document is a direct transcription of the audio of the speech. Paragraphs and grammatical and/or spelling interpretations were created by the transcriber based upon an original printed document of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s; This document was created in March 2014 by Joseph Brown, Class of 2014.;
This document is an exact transcription with corrections of the commencement address Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave on Sunday, June 14, 1964. In this speech, he talks about social change, poverty, and brotherhood, saying: "We must all learn to live together as brothers, or we will all perish together as fools."
- Creator
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968
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- Digital Commonwealth
- Contributing Institution
- Springfield College Archives and Special Collections
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- College Archives Digital Collections
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- Springfield College
- Subjects
- Springfield College
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968
Graduation ceremonies
Poverty
Social justice - Type
- text
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- Documents
- Language
- English
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Text and images are owned, held, or licensed by Springfield College and are available for personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that ownership is properly cited. A credit line is required and should read: Courtesy of Springfield College, Babson Library, Archives and Special Collections. Any commercial use without written permission from Springfield College is strictly prohibited. Other individuals or entities other than, and in addition to, Springfield College may also own copyrights and other propriety rights. The publishing, exhibiting, or broadcasting party assumes all responsibility for clearing reproduction rights and for any infringement of United States copyright law.
- Chicago citation style
- King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968. Martin Luther King Commencement Speech - Transcription (June 14, 1964). 1964-06-14. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15370coll2/id/7849. (Accessed April 18, 2024.)
- APA citation style
- King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968, (1964-06-14) Martin Luther King Commencement Speech - Transcription (June 14, 1964). Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, http://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15370coll2/id/7849
- MLA citation style
- King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America <http://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15370coll2/id/7849>.