Ephemera, such as this button, attests to the inspirational work of the two slain leaders and how New Yorkers celebrated and remembered them. Unidentified maker, Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. button, 1968, New-York Historical Society
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Rebel Spirits: Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.On the surface, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. were born worlds apart―culturally, geographically, racially, financially, and politically. But by the time they were killed within two months of each other in 1968, their worlds had come together. Images taken by some of the most renowned photojournalists of the era―alongside original correspondence, publications, and ephemera―illustrate the overlapping trajectory of their lives, exploring their deepening tie as well as how their interests expanded beyond civil rights and organized crime to encompass shared concerns for the poor and opposition to the war in Vietnam.
Watch the following videos to complete your work in Google Classroom: Read (and/or listen to) The Promise and the Dream to complete your work in Google Classroom:
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From February 16 - May 20, 2020, the New York Historical Society hosted the exhibit, "Rebel Spirits: Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. These photos are a few of the images from the exhibition.
Use these images to complete the questions in your Google Classroom assignment.
Robert Kennedy agonized for months about whether or not he should run for president. When he finally made his announcement in March 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. felt confident that he could win, and resolved that RFK would be the first politician he would officially endorse. Photo, Lawrence Schiller (courtesy Lawrence Schiller Archive), 1968
In February 1960, Dr. King moved his family from Montgomery to Atlanta so he could devote more time to the Southern Christian Leadership Council and its freedom struggle. Two months later, the Ku Klux Klan set a cross ablaze on their front lawn. Unidentified photographer (courtesy Getty Images), 1960
Kennedy had little time to prepare for his presidential campaign, and without delegates or organization, his overwhelming popular appeal proved invaluable. He drew frenzied crowds like a rock star but was slightly uneasy with the adoration, always privately uncertain whether it was for him or his late brother. Photo, Lawrence Schiller (courtesy Lawrence Schiller Archive), 1968
”I Am A Man” was one of the slogans that marchers carried through the streets of Memphis following King’s death. Allied Printing, Memphis, Tennessee
I Am A Man, 1968
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC06124
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King arrived in Watts as the community still smoldered and declared at a press conference that “the violence was environmental and not racial. The economic deprivation, social isolation, inadequate housing, and general despair of thousands of Negroes teeming in Northern and Western ghettos are the ready seeds which give birth to tragic expressions of violence.’’ Photo, Lawrence Schiller (courtesy Lawrence Schiller Archives), 1965
Robert F. Kennedy aboard his campaign plane en route to the West Coast prior to his campaign stops in California, just days before his assassination in Los Angeles, June 1968. Photo, Lawrence Schiller (courtesy of Lawrence Schiller Archives), June 1968
February 22, 1956. Eight weeks into the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Martin Luther King Jr. and 88 Montgomery Improvement Association leaders are indicted by a grand jury for violating Alabama’s anti-boycott law. Unidentified photographer (courtesy Redux Pictures), February 1956
Coretta Scott King and three of her children led
some 20,000 marchers through the streets of
Memphis on April 8, 1968 holding signs that read,
”Honor King: End Racism,” Union Justice Now,” or,
simply, ”I Am A Man.” National Guardsmen lined
the streets, perched on M-48 tanks, with bayonets
mounted, as helicopters circled overhead. The
following day she led another 150,000 in a funeral
procession through the streets of Atlanta. Allied Printing, Memphis, Tennessee
Honor King: End Racism, 1968
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC06125
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(To go in-depth on the relationship between King and Kennedy, this book is a delight to read!)
