Press Coverage of First Birthday Celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Object Details

Photograph by: Horace C. Henry, American, born 1948
Subject of: Coretta Scott King, American, 1927 - 2006; Harry Belafonte Jr., American, 1927 - 2023; Unidentified Man or Men; Unidentified Woman or Women; Rev. Martin Luther King Sr, American, 1899 - 1984; Alberta King, American, 1904 - 1974
Printed by: Unidentified
Subject of: Ebenezer Baptist Church, American, founded 1886

Caption: Notice the press covering the program as Mrs. King is surrounded by family members and friends. I have been told that there are very few recorded and published images from this first birthday celebration which make the photographs that you are seeing here extremely rare. I've seen no others.
Description: This black and white photograph shows the King family seated inside Ebenezer Baptist Church for Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday commemoration in 1969. Coretta Scott King is seated in the center of the photograph. Harry Belafonte is seated to the proper left of King and there is an unidentified woman to the proper left of Belafonte. To the other side of Coretta Scott King, Alberta and Martin Luther King Sr. are seated. There are unidentified men behind the family along with press and their equipment. The back of the photograph has a manufacturer's mark, and handwritten and printer's inscriptions.

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Horace C. Henry

January 15, 1969; printed 2011

Restrictions & Rights: © Horace Henry; Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

Place captured: Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, United States, North and Central America

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Portfolio/Series: One Day in January: A Collection of Images Taken at Dr. King’s First Memorial Service
Classification: Photographs and Still Images

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Topic: African American; Actors; Baptist; Civil Rights; Photography; Religion; Religious rituals and ceremonies; Singers (Musicians); The Black Church; U.S. History, 1961-1969

GUID (Link to Original Record): http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5e9175c2f-6efe-4b51-afcf-7a6465b6e823