Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Tierney Gleason, Reference and Digital Humanities Librarian
We wanted to share a selection of resources available at Fordham University Libraries and beyond to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Whether you are interested in taking a deep dive into biographies, speeches, videos, photographs, or other types of primary sources, librarians are here to help you find the content that inspires your curiosity.
Books
Fordham has a wide selection of print and electronic books on the life, work, and influence of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. To look for books, use the library catalog to search by author for books by Dr. King or by subject for books about Dr. King. Formatting your search as “King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968” in the catalog will produce the most targeted results.
If you run into problems searching for books, try our Ask a Librarian chat service for assistance. Librarians are available to chat live with you 24/7 to help you find the items you need.
Articles
Looking for scholarly articles about Dr. King? Try searching in databases such as America: History & Life or ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials PLUS.
Interested in summary articles from encyclopedias? Try Oxford African American Studies Center or Credo Reference – Academic Core.
Curious about historical newspaper articles or magazines? Try newspaper databases like Historical Newspapers: Black Newspapers or New York Times: ProQuest Historical Newspapers with Index. For magazines, try searching for magazines by periodical title in the library catalog. Selected magazine archives are open access and available through Google Books including EBONY, Jet, Negro Digest, and LIFE.
Mar 8, 1962.
Multimedia & Digital Collections
Looking for a multimedia experience combining archival audio and documents with illustrations? Check out Freedom’s Ring, an interactive experience of the “I Have a Dream” speech produced by The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research & Education Institute at Stanford University. This website lets researchers compare the written text with the spoken word and view multimedia images encompassing the broader historical context of this iconic speech.
Looking for streaming audiovisual content? Try Academic Video Online (AVON) or the American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB) to search for interviews, documentary videos, and clips.
Our Swank Motion Pictures database offers a streaming version of the film Selma (2014) directed by Ava DuVernay. This historical drama centers Dr. King and the 1965 protest marches from Selma to Birmingham, Alabama campaigning for voting rights.
For those interested in texts, images, and teaching materials about Dr. King’s life and the Civil Rights Movement, try searching the following resources:
- Digital Public Library of America
- Civil Rights Digital Library
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Research & Education Institute
- Bob Fitch Photography Archive: Movements for Change.
Continue Exploring at the Fordham Libraries
As we often say, there is so much more at the library! For resources beyond what is featured here, visit our website to begin searching or consult our research guide for African American Studies.
