Martin Luther King, Jr.

Object Details

Artist

Benedict J. Fernandez, born 1936

Sitter

Martin Luther King, Jr., 15 Jan 1929 - 4 Apr 1968

Exhibition Label

Born Atlanta, Georgia

Although many important civil rights leaders emerged in the 1950s and 1960s, Martin Luther King Jr. personified the struggle for African American equality and justice. King’s synthesis of Christian theology and its message of a supporting and loving God, along with Mohandas Gandhi’s tactics of nonviolent protest, became the defining features of the civil rights movement. In 1963 King focused the nation’s attention on the African American struggle by leading a massive civil rights protest in Birmingham, Alabama, and the August 28 March on Washington, in which he delivered his historic “I have a dream” speech. By the mid-1960s King also became involved in the antiwar movement. This photograph by Benedict Fernandez was taken on April 15, 1967, after a march from New York’s Central Park to the United Nations Plaza, where King delivered an address denouncing the Vietnam War as racist.

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Eastman Kodak Professional Photography Division, the Engl Trust, and Benedict J. Fernandez

1967 (printed 1989)

Object number

NPG.91.47.4

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Copyright

© Benedict J. Fernandez

Type

Photograph

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Dimensions

Image: 31.1 x 20.8 cm (12 1/4 x 8 3/16")

Sheet: 35.3 x 27.8 cm (13 7/8 x 10 15/16")

Mat: 55.9 x 40.6cm (22 x 16")

See more items in

National Portrait Gallery Collection

National Portrait Gallery

Topic

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Male

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Activist\Civil rights activist\Civil rights leader

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Religion and Spirituality\Clergy\Minister

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Nobel Prize

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Presidential Medal of Freedom

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Congressional Gold Medal

Portrait

Record ID

npg_NPG.91.47.4

Usage of Metadata (Object Detail Text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4a50e21ce-40bc-4912-b639-9dbeb24f8609