Dr. Martin Luther King would have been 79 years old on January 15th. In April of 1968 when he was just 39 years old, he was taken from us. And his legacy of a quest for justice, peace, and equality lives on in so many ways.

Seen below is the first page and mailing envelope fom an early copy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. This letter was sent to Reverend Joe C. Higginbotham, a Birmingham minister, in April of 1963 and was given to the W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library by the Higginbotham family in memory of Reverend Higginbotham and in honor of UA’s Black Faculty and Staff Association.

We celebrate the birthday of Dr. King as an opportunity to remember his message and dream of justice, equality and peace, and not as a “day off” but a “day on”. In 1994 the US Congress passed the King Holiday and Service Act, designating the MLK Holiday as a national day of volunteer service. Instead of a day off from work or school, Congress asked Americans of all backgrounds and ages to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy by turning community concerns into citizen action. The King Day of Service brings together people who might not ordinarily meet, breaks down barriers that have divided us in the past, leads to better understanding and ongoing relationships, and is an opportunity to recruit new volunteers for your ongoing work. To learn more about MLK Day, visit http://www.mlkday.gov/
The image of Dr. King above is from the King Center website.