- Collection:
- WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection
- Title:
- Series of WSB-TV newsfilm clips of mourners honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. on what would have been his 40th birthday, Atlanta, Georgia, 1969 January 15
- Creator:
- WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)
- Contributor to Resource:
- King, Coretta Scott, 1927-2006
Abernathy, Ralph, 1926-1990
Robinson, Cleveland L. (Cleveland Lowellyn), 1914-1995
Conyers, John, Jr., 1929- - Date of Original:
- 1969-01-15
- Subject:
- Funeral rites and ceremonies
Civil rights
African Americans--Violence against
Memorialization
Martin Luther King, Jr., Day
African Americas--Civil rights--History--20th century - People:
- King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968--Death and burial
Ray, James Earl, 1928-1998 - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, 33.79025, -84.46702
United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798 - Medium:
- moving images
news
unedited footage - Type:
- MovingImage
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- In this series of WSB-TV newsfilm clips from January 15, 1969 in Atlanta, Georgia, mourners honor Martin Luther King, Jr. on what would have been his 40th birthday.
The first section of clips is silent. The clips open with a shot of cameramen focusing on Coretta Scott King then zooming in on her sitting at a table with others. The next clip shows the sons of Coretta and Martin Luther King, Jr., Martin Luther King III and Dexter Scott King. The next scene shows U.S. Representative Julian Bond and Civil Rights activist John Lewis in the crowd. The next shot shows people heading toward Ebenezer Baptist Church. The next clip shows attendees inside the church and then a shot of Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy addressing the congregants.
Then next clip is the first with sound and shows Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, addressing the attendees. His words are transcribed below:
"So we say to the nation today, Martin, let James Earl Ray or whoever was responsible for taking your life, let him live. But you may be assured, Martin, that even though the world did not know who you were until my tongue cleaves to the roof of my mouth and my right arm shall lose its (unintelligible) and my feet shall get so tired that I cannot run, I will move through the streets of America. I will move through the highways and byways of the nation. Even I will go abroad until the world knows who you were."
During his speech, the camera cuts to Harry Belafonte among the attendees. After his speech, the camera cuts to the crowd giving him a standing ovation.
The next scene shows Coretta Scott King beginning to speak with, "My husband would have been forty years old."
The camera cuts to a shot of Georgia House of Representatives member Julian Bond.
The next clip shows Coretta addressing reporters. Her speech is transcribed below:
"So on Martin's birthday we set out on a tremendous adventure and invite all of you to share it with us. For the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Center does more than pay homage to a man. It is an experiment in hope in a time of fear. It is an act of faith when men refuse to believe. It is a realistic attempt to carry on an idealist's fight, the fight for which my husband lived and died, the fight for a world in which all men on this earth might one day be free, free at last."
Next are more crowd shots of people outside Ebenezer Baptist Church.
The next scene is a group of four women singing in the church: "I know he loved humanity / I know he died with dignity / He laid down and died for his friends / For his friends / He was someone like Moses / He went to the mountain / He viewed the promised land."
The next clip shows U.S. House of Representatives member John Conyers, addressing the crowd at the church. His remarks are transcribed below:
"And now we have had among us this great Black American leader of whom we ask the Congress to do no more than to set aside one day out of the year so that we can, with everyone around the world, say we recognize that great spirit that has walked among us. It seems to me that this is a minor thing to ask of my fellow colleagues."
The next clips show crowd shots.
The next clip shows Cleveland Robinson, president of the Negro American Labor Council, AFL-CIO, addressing the crowd. His remarks are transcribed below:
"We are saying that on January 15th each year we shall assemble in every nook and corner of this great country and we shall take stock of ourselves and we shall remember this great drum major, and see how well we are doing in the light of the things he wanted done. And we shall march forward with this spirit and in this manner so that governors and mayors and congressmen and president will see the necessity of just giving, giving this day to America. Thank you."
The next scene shows the crowd giving him a standing ovation.
The last clip shows Coretta Scott King leaving the microphones and a reporter offscreen saying, "Thank you very much, Mrs. King."
Title supplied by cataloger.
Supporting information was taken from the following source:
Coffin, Alex. "Spare King's Killer, Rev. Abernathy asks." The Atlanta Constitution 16 January 1969. 1. Web. - Local Identifier:
- Clip number: wsbn43704
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/news/id:wsbn43704
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/news/do:wsbn43704
- IIIF manifest:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/ugabma_wsbn_wsbn43704/presentation/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: wsbn43704, Series of WSB-TV newsfilm clips of mourners honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. on what would have been his 40th birthday, Atlanta, Georgia, 1969 January 15, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 0987, 18:21/23:11, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia
- Extent:
- 1 clip (about 4 mins., 50 secs.): black-and-white, sound ; 16 mm.
- Original Collection:
- Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.
- Contributing Institution:
- Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection
- Rights:
-
