40 Years of Celebrating One of History's Greatest Civil Rights Leaders

You know it doesn’t make much sense

There ought to be a law against

Anyone who takes offense

At a day in your celebration

With these words, released in 1980, singer-songwriter sensation Stevie Wonder began his campaign to accomplish the seemingly impossible: declaring the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. a federal holiday.

The efforts began in 1968, just 4 days after King’s assassination in Memphis, when U.S. Representative John Conyers (D-Mich.) introduced a bill to that effect. Eleven years later, in 1979, the bill finally came up for a vote.

The bill didn’t pass, and Wonder got involved, recording the song “Happy Birthday” first as part of Hotter Than July, his 19th studio album, and then as a single. He performed the song at political rallies, worked with the King family as well as the Congressional Black Caucus, and bankrolled other lobbying efforts. Finally, on Oct. 19, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed the bill into law.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first observed on Jan. 20, 1986—40 years ago. As part of that commemoration, this article will review the best MLK-related resources on the web. I’ll also throw in a few resources related to Black history, which is celebrated in the month of February.

The King Center

Established in 1968 by King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, The King Center is a “living memorial filled with all the vitality that was his, a center of human endeavor, committed to the causes for which he lived and died.” It is also a major research center that calls itself the “largest repository of primary source materials on Dr. King and the American Civil Rights Movement.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute

This institute is a world-class study center that grew out of the King Papers Project, a cooperative venture of Stanford University, The King Center, and the King Estate. Seven volumes of King’s papers have been published, with seven more to go. The institute also maintains the King Encyclopedia, with nearly 300 articles on civil rights topics.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes and Speeches

Most people are familiar with King’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech. But what about “The Other America” or “The Three Evils of Society,” both from 1967? Or “Paul’s Letter to American Christians,” delivered in 1956, several years before “I Have a Dream”? The American Writers Museum has transcripts and/or videos of these speeches and more.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (Nobel Laureate)

King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 “for his non-violent struggle for civil rights for the Afro-American population.” In addition to a biography, this site includes King’s acceptance speech, a Q&A, a video of his award acceptance, and a short documentary showing his arrival in Oslo.

On Jan. 23, 2025, Executive Order 14176 mandated the release of federal government records pertaining to the murders of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. King’s documents number more than 6,000!

Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story

On Feb. 1, 1960, four Black students—David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr., and Joseph McNeil—sat at the lunch counter of a Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina, and tried to order food. Denied service, the foursome stayed until closing time. They returned the next day with more friends, launching a 5-month series of protests that are remembered today. The impetus for those sit-ins? This 1957 comic book about the life of Martin Luther King Jr.

The Civil Rights Movement

Most people have read, or at least heard of, King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” The piece has been reprinted in many books and on numerous websites since its initial publication in May 1963. This Library of Congress site reproduces one of its early appearances: in the June 16, 1963, Washington, D.C., Evening Star. The collection includes other civil rights documents and photographs, along with a number of teaching guides.

Civil Rights Leaders

On this NAACP website, you can read about major figures (King, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers) as well as some lesser-known names, like the lawyer, educator, and poet James Weldon Johnson, whose song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is often called the Black National Anthem.

National Museum of African American History & Culture

Established by Congress in 2003 and opened to the public on Sept. 24, 2016, this segment of the Smithsonian is “the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture.” The museum includes a library featuring “a reading room with public computer stations, stack space for 11,000 volumes, scanning and copying equipment, and a space for exhibitions of items from the library collection.”

Black History Month

Scholar and historian Carter G. Woodson may not be a household name, but every February, we recognize one of his greatest achievements: the celebration of “Negro History Week,” which became Black History Month. Why February? It is the birth month of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. This site links to a number of federal government collections, including papers of the NAACP, Booker T. Washington, and Rosa Parks, as well those of Lincoln and Douglass.

Black History Timeline

This site has perhaps the most detailed timeline of African American history available. It stretches back to 315,000 years ago, when the “earliest known humans emerge[d] and live[d] on the African continent.” The timeline is also searchable. Make sure to sign up for “America’s Most Informative Black History Newsletter.”

African American History

This extensive Cornell University research guide links to books, journals, films, websites, encyclopedias, and more. Especially interesting is SlaveVoyages, a collaboration of the National Endowment for the Humanities and several major research universities, including Harvard, Emory, and Rice, which hosts the database.

BlackPast

This site, founded in 2007 by University of Washington scholar Quintard Taylor, calls itself the “world’s largest online encyclopedia of Black History.” It includes maps, timelines, articles, speeches, research guides, and more. Especially interesting is the article on Black scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project—e.g., Samuel Proctor Massie, who served as president of North Carolina Central University between 1962 and 1966 until his appointment by President Lyndon B. Johnson as the first Black faculty member at the U.S Naval Academy.

‘20 Black Stage Plays Every Generation Must Know’

“African American stage plays,” according to this Howard University article, “are not simply works of art—they are many times living records of a people’s struggles, triumphs, and unbreakable spirit. They chronicle history, challenge stereotypes, and assert the dignity of Black life.” The article discusses 20 plays, ranging from the famous (e.g., Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun) to outstanding lesser-known works such as Angelina Weld Grimké’s Rachel (1916), one of the first plays by a Black woman to be publicly performed.