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Features : Holidays : Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday (January 15)

MLK Articles and Learning Resources

Learning More About Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 'Net

by Robin Nobles

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a civil rights leader in the 50's and 60's who did much to raise the consciousness of equality between the races. He met with President Kennedy in 1962, with Pope Paul VI in 1964, and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

On April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, and James Earl Ray was later convicted of the crime.

The United States celebrates the birth of this great leader with a national holiday on the third Monday in January.

The Seattle Times has an excellent site commemorating Dr. King and his amazing life. You'll find a time line for Dr. King, a time line for civil rights in general, a photo gallery, and even information that teachers can use in classrooms. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/mlk/

Stanford University has a research project devoted to Dr. King and his work. At the site, you can tour an interactive chronology of the life of Dr. King, or you can listen to audio clips of some of his speeches. Read his sermons, his speeches, or his biography. http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/

How about an interactive scavenger hunt to learn more about Dr. King? The MLKing Scavenger Hunt is ideal for classroom activities or to help your children learn more about the civil rights leader. http://users.rcn.com/tstrong.massed/Martin.htm

LIFE Magazine offers a site called, "Martin Luther King, Jr., a LIFE Tribute," where you can view images and cover photos of King that were published in LIFE magazine. http://www.lifemag.com/Life/mlk/mlk.html

A couple of communities in North Carolina have created an impressive site about Dr. King. You can view a listing of nationwide or even worldwide events in observation of the holiday, or read a history of why America honors Dr. King. http://www.king-raleigh.org/splash.htm

What is the background of James Earl Ray, the man who was convicted of murdering Dr. King? He pleaded guilty of the murder, but later claimed his innocence. Ray died in prison, after having served close to 30 years. In 1997, King's son met with Ray and publicly supported a new trial, but Ray died before the case could be reopened. At Who2, you can learn more about Ray, including links to other sites. http://www.who2.com/jamesearlray.html

Finally, visit the Martin Luther King Assassination site, sponsored by the Real History Archives. Read an overview of the assassination, an article on why Dr. King's son thought there should be a retrial, and a transcript of a 1998 ABC News broadcast titled, "Who Shot Martin Luther King, Jr.?" http://www.webcom.com/~lpease/collections/assassinations/mlk.htm

This article was written by Robin Nobles, a professional freelance writer and the Director of Training of the Academy of Web Specialists, where she has trained several thousand people in her online courses in search engine marketing strategies. http://www.academywebspecialists.com/more_info. She also teaches onsite search engine marketing workshops with John Alexander (http://www.beyond-seo.com/workshop.htm), and she has written three books that can be ordered through Amazon. Or, visit Robin's personal Web site at http://www.robinsnest.com.

Copyright © 2002 Robin Nobles. All rights reserved. If you find a bad link in this article, please contact the author.