Past exhibits

MLK in California

January 12 - February 29, 2008

On March 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered one of his final sermons at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, commenting on an early memory of traveling to Los Angeles, “There’s a highway called Highway 80. I’ve marched on that highway from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery. But I never will forget my first experience with Highway 80 was driving with Coretta and Ralph and Juanita Abernathy to California. We drove from Montgomery all the way to Los Angeles on Highway 80—it goes all the way out to Los Angeles. And you know, being a good man, being a good woman, does not mean that you’ve arrived in Los Angeles. It simply means that you’re on Highway 80.”

King visited California regularly from 1956 through 1968, participating in the civic and social life of the state. This special photography display chronicles his travels, from speeches in the Bay Area to a parade in Los Angeles, reminding us all of the importance of our region to his life and work.

sampling of works Presented