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Stories of Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. leading march from Selma to Montgomery of voting rights for African Americans. Beside King is John Lewis, Reverend Jesse Douglas, James Forman and Ralph Abernathy. Steve Schapiro/Corbis via Getty Images.

Several people have shared stories with us about Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination and the tumultuous year of 1968. Here are just a handful of them.
Portrait of a young soldier wearing glasses and looking up from his newspaper.

I was in disbelief as I began to hear reports... It sounded as if the country was coming apart at the seams.

Anger and violence seemed to rear its ugly head everywhere... It felt like the whole world had gone nuts.

An official military portrait of a young man wearing a cap, looking stern, posed in front of an American flag.
Fuzzy image of a bridge sticking up out of the clouds.

Chicago’s west side was in flames. At the time, I did not realize the magnitude of this tragic event.

A student ran through the commons area shouting, “Martin Luther King has been shot!” Then: exodus.

A young woman in a graduation cap and gown, with a white arm band tied around her left arm.
Portrait of a young soldier superimposed in front of an image of the same soldier.

Even without a war, [an event] of this magnitude would have greatly affected the national psyche.

We then got the order to go out to the flagpole and lower the flag to 'half mast' in honor of Dr. King and we did so.

Two soldiers in full gear standing in front of a pile of sandbags.

Do you remember when MLK was assassinated?
Share your story.

Story Themes: 1968, African American, Assassination, Civil Rights Movement, David Rieke, Jeff Nordahl, Jeffrey Nordahl, John McGraw, Martin Luther King Jr., Michael Bauman, Race, Racism, Read, Rosemary Ruffenach, Stories on a Theme, Tom Eberhart, TPT, Twin Cities PBS

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