Tag: Martin Luther King

60 YEARS AGO TODAY: Listen to archival audio and video from the March on Washington. Can you help name the choir members?

Posted on by Catherine

Author’s Note: From the National Archives collection, this contemporaneous 20 minute highlights newsreel covers the sights and sounds from the historic March On Washington for Jobs and Freedom, distributed in 1964. In 2021, I timestamped the music splits, and identified the speakers and performers included in this particular POV reel. (Still missing a few. Can you help?) Re-sharing on this 60th milestone anniversary Aug. 28, 2023.

video title: The March on Washington, 1964 film by the US Information Agency compilation for overseas from the National Archives and Records Administration collection (20 min)

TIMESTAMP OF SPEAKERS AND PERFORMERS APPEARING IN FILM CLIP

Among the speakers and performers on the program (* appear in film clip):

Marian Anderson, Josephine Baker, Joan Baez* (audio early, then w/video 9:38-10:26), Harry Belafonte, Dr. Eugene Carson Blake* (16:59-17:28), Bobby Darin, Ossie Davis* (but only when he introduces Burt Lancaster 10:27), Ruby Dee (co-emcee with Ossie Davis), Bob Dylan, Freedom Singers* with choir (We shall not be moved 7:14 – 9:06), Dick Gregory, Martin Luther King Jr.* (18:18 – 18:59 press conference), Lena Horne, Mahalia Jackson, Eva Jessye Choir* (12:41 Freedom is the thing we’re talking about – Yolanda Clarke on organ), Burt Lancaster* (traveled from Paris to speak, 10:35-12:02), John Lewis* (video only – standing behind Reuther 17:29), Dr. Benjamin Mays* ( 14:34-15:36 benediction), Odetta, Peter Paul & Mary* (clips & audio of Blowin in the wind and If I had a hammer 3:18-4:33 first set), Asa Philip Randolph* (16:16-16:57 and again intro MLK 18:18), Bayard Rustin* (12:11 video only); Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth* (9:08- 9:27), Walter Reuther* (17:29-18:16), Camilla Williams (stepped up for the National Anthem; with the big crowds, Marian Anderson was too late, and would sing later in program. Williams famous, too, and worked with Jessye on Porgy & Bess.), Roy Wilkins* (13:41-14:28) and Josh White.

Opens with crowd walking and singing “we stay home and you’ll be gone…jail for more than a week, all I had was beans to eat…because my home is Danville” **Can you identify this song?**

Parade and marching band 4:34-5:40.

About the Eva jessye Choir

Eva Jessye Choir at 7:14-9:06 with Freedom singers “We shall not be moved” and later “Freedom is the thing we’re talking about” where Eva Jessye herself can be seen directing from back. Can you help identify the soloists- the gorgeous baritone, Robeson-esque at 12:36, and at 18:69 a stunning soprano soaring “We shall overcome” choir version, with crowd? The Eva Jessye Choir was the official choir for the March on Washington. Her long and storied career took off as chorus director for the Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein opera, “Four Saints in Three Acts” in 1934 and Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” the following year. She worked with Marian Anderson, Paul Robeson and more.

OTHER NOTABLES

Among the notables marching with the crowd and/or mingling with dignitaries and speakers already mentioned above: Faye Anderson, Josephine Baker, James Baldwin, Leon Bibb, Marlon Brando, Diahann Carroll, Tony Curtis, Bobby Darin, Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Franciosa, James Garner, Charlton Heston, Kiyoshi Kuromiya, Joseph Mankiewicz, Rita Moreno, Gordon Parks, Paul Newman, Rosa Parks, Gregory Peck, Sam Peckinpah, Sidney Poitier, Jackie Robinson, Bill Russell, Robert Ryan, and Joanne Woodward. Senators present: Phillip Hart (D-Mich), Wayne Morse (D-OR), William Proxmire (D-WI), and Mayor Wagner (NYC).

The ‘Lincoln Memorial’ program and the newsreel do not mention one tragic impetus for this specific date: Emmett Till (1941-1955) lynching happened August 28

King delivered an earlier iteration of the sermon in Detroit, orchestrated by Rev. C.L. Franklin, Aretha Franklin’s father. During the march, news spread that W. E. B. DuBois died the previous night in Ghana. So much hope and progress, and mere weeks later, retaliation. The Birmingham Baptist church bombing was on September 15, 1963. Within five years of the March on Washington, Malcolm X and King were killed.

“We’re going to march. We’re going to walk together. We’re going to stand together. We’re going to sing together. We’re going to stay together. We’re going to moan together. We’re going to groan together and after a while, we will have freedom, freedom, and freedom now. And we all shall be free.”

Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth not formally asked for the program but asked to speak that day, one of many adjustments on the fly, rose to the occasion, primed the crowd

1)Who were the choir members that day? [Eva Jessye Choir at 7:14-9:06 with Freedom singers “We shall not be moved” and later “Freedom is the thing we’re talking about” where Eva Jessye herself can be seen directing from back.]
2)Can you help identify the choir and soloists- the gorgeous baritone, Robeson-esque at min 12:36, and the women (with earrings )at min 18:69, and the stunning soprano soloist soaring “We shall overcome” choir version, with crowd?

National Archives description of the film (added 2009 and still as of 2021): 

“ARC Identifier 49737 / Local Identifier 306.3394. Scenes from Civil Rights March in Washington, D.C., August 1963. People walking up sidewalk; gathering on Mall, standing, singing. Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, crowd gathered on the Mall. People marching with signs, many men wearing UAW hats. People at speakers podium, men with guitars. Crowds outside of the White House, sign: The Catholic University of America. Band, people marching down street. Many signs, including All D.C. wants to vote! Home Rule for DC; Alpha Phi Alpha; and Woodstock Catholic Seminary for Equal Rights. Lincoln Memorial with crowds gathered around reflecting pool. People singing and clapping at speakers platform. Signs, people clapping. Man speaking, woman playing guitar and singing at podium. More speakers and shots of the crowd. A chorus, NAACP men in crowd. Close-ups of people in crowd with bowed heads. Shots taken from above of White House. More speakers, including Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Women at podium singing We Shall Overcome. Crowd swaying, singing, holding hands.”

1963

1963 GORDON PARKS COLOR PHOTOGRAPH

photo: installation view at The Cooper Gallery Harvard, Gordon Parks exhibition 2019 by C. Ryan — Parks’ photo journalist and cinematic chops in this sea of us momentous moment, March on Washington, 1963, view from Lincoln Memorial to Washington Monument. [*Lincoln designed by Daniel Chester French unveiled 1922; Washington Monument designed by Robert Mills; completed by Thomas Casey and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, dedicated 1884.] For more about Gordon Parks work in Gloucester, Mass. see 2012-14 here

[photographer Thomas J. O’Halloran, aerial view of marchers, from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument, at the March on Washington, 1963, Library of Congress.]

The Embrace Statue honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King | Monument Unveiling on Boston Commons

Posted on by Catherine

Now there’s three centuries of striving for equality expressed in public art sculpture on Boston Commons.

photo caption: Daybreak photos on Boston Commons, January 13, 2023, a few hours before the Embrace unveiling ceremony- and the rain.

Hank Willis Thomas Monument to the Kings

The memorial by Hank Willis Thomas is installed just inside the Boston Common Parkman Plaza entrance (across from 151 Tremont St.). Today’s event precedes the public access to the site. Note: The area will be fenced off for a few more weeks before public access is cleared.

In addition to photo documentation of how the Embrace looks today as its readied for the unveiling event, there are photos of the art featured on the temporary fence wrap; the surroundings alongside the new installation and how the Embrace is set into the Boston Commons to give an idea of scale; and photos of the Robert Kraus Boston Massacre / Crispus Attucks Memorial (dedicated 1888), the Augustus St.-Gaudens Robert Gould Shaw | 54th Regiment Memorial (1897), and the John Paramino Signing of the Declaration of Independence tribute tablet (1925) for context and to illustrate their proximity. With the addition of the Embrace (2022) commission, three centuries of striving for equality– now including a tribute to a woman* rather than an allegory for the spirit of Freedom– are located on the Boston Commons within sight of the State House.

*Cyrus Dallin’s Ann Hutchinson and Sylvia Shaw Judson‘s Mary Dyer statues are on the State House grounds.

2023 January 13- morning of Embrace unveiling

Embrace is by American artist Hank Willis Thomas, with Mass Design Group architects. It’s 22 feet high and was fabricated in the Walla Walla Foundry. Thomas was inspired by a photograph of the spouses hugging when MLK was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. When it’s open, people can walk through the heart of the sculpture. I’ll write more about it later. Hank Willis Thomas is now represented by Pace Gallery, NY.

American History – For Freedoms

The Embrace will fall on the Freedom Trail and Black Heritage trail. It’s incredibly moving to visit these liberty milestones sited in such close proximity.

Jan 23, 2023 photos emphasize site lines in relation to the new Embrace commission.

1888 Boston Massacre – Crispus Attucks obelisk

Boston Massacre – Crispus Attucks bronze by Robert Kraus. The 25 feet high obelisk marks the day of the Boston Massacre and includes a tribute to its victims.

Crispus Attucks, a freed black man, whaler, and sailor, was the first revolutionary killed in the battle for liberty.

The sculpture was inspired by Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People commemorating France’s battle to overthrow the King in 1830 (decades following the French Revolution). France’s National Assembly disclosed the Declaration to the Rights of Man and Citizen in 1789. Olympe de Gouges pamplet, Déclaration des droits de la femme et de la citoyenne (the Declaration of the Rights of Women and the (Female) Citizens) came soon thereafter.

Boston Commons: Boston Massacre | Crispus Attucks Memorial on left; Embrace King tribute between the trees, past the temporary fencing; State House dome on right. Rainy day scenes are 2023. Blue skies were March 2018. All photos: C. Ryan

1925 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE TABLET

Sculptor John Paramino, after (John) Trumbull’s monumental painting completed in 1818 and installed in the Capitol, The Signing of the Declaration of Independence (Aug 1776), tablet set into granite with eagle carving and produced at the Gorham foundry, Providence, RI.

Closer to home in Gloucester, Massachusetts, the bronze doors on the A. Piatt Andrew bridge are by Paramino.

1897 54th Regiment Robert Gould Shaw memorial

Augustus Saint-Gaudens took nearly fourteen years to finish. The memorial was unveiled May 31, 1897. Charles McKim designed the site. The names are carved at the back The paths slope down in the direction of the new statue.

People on their phones that morning whether standing, seated or walking.

June 2022- BEFORE installation

site work

Rainy day scenes, today, Jan 13, 2023. Before scenes depicting site preparation and leafy trees dated June 2022. photos: C. Ryan

About the Embrace memorial Fence Wrap Artists

featuring Rixy Fernandez, Yotron the Don, Malakhai Pearson, Harry Scales, Zahirah Nur Truth, and Ngoc-Tran Vu

1960 – Religion, Learning, Industry

Wayfinding: Commissioned for a 1958 build out for Parkman Plaza designed by Shurcliff and Merrill, this tribute celebrates Boston’s industriousness, scholarship and spiritual history. Sculptors Arcangelo Cascieri & Adio di Biccari completed the series before a 1960 installation. The unveiling dedication was in 1961. This is the closest park entrance to see the Embrace.

blue sky photo: C. Ryan, March 2018 – Religion, Industry, Knowledge Boston Tribute 1961

Martin Luther King

Posted on by Donna Ardizzoni

When working at the graduate school at Wheelock College in Boston during 2000-2003, I was making some travel arrangements for a guest speaker. As I was working on these arrangements, noticed the name was a professor Christine King Farris from Spelman College in Atlanta Georgia. She asked me for an escort as she stated she never travels alone after what had happened to her brother. What an honor to have met this woman and she was so kind to sign a book on her brother who was Martin Luther King. I have kept this and feel honored to have it.
January 20, 2014 MLKJanuary 20, 2014 Christine King Farris

Rogers Street Theater reprises great Evening of Dorothy Parker #GloucesterMA

Posted on by Catherine

Views of and from Rogers Street Theater (former Empire space/Floating Lotus entrance on Main) before the show

An Evening of Dorothy Parker: Staged Reading Celebrating Her Life & Work
A collabortive presentation by Carole Frohlich, David McCaleb & Nick Neyeloff with Sally Nutt & Lauren Suchecki

Rogers Street Theater, 68 Rogers Street, Gloucester, MA. www.RogersStreetTheater.org

Four expressive actors linger, pause and saunter through Parker bon mots and excerpts from her poems, prose, plays, reviews and ruminations. Snippets of her biography accompany segues, sparingly and effectively. The evening works for ardent fans or uninitiated because of the writing, staging and nuanced interpretation. This reading and fine acting honored Parker’s immense and undeniable writing and observational talent, and evoked her mastery of internal dialogue. Felt poignant, fresh and relevant.

TODAY: GMF’s Martin Luther King Day Celebration 2019 is ON and here’s the program!

Posted on by Catherine

GMF MLK 2019.jpg

Update from the Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation:

2PM It’s on but use caution!

We regret that Meetinghouse Green is now frozen over solid and is not safe for parking or walking, so allow time to find on-street parking or use one of the lots in the Historic District.  The front steps will be clear and sanded but please exercise extra caution when coming up from Church Street.  You are also welcome to use the side entrance instead, close to the intersection of Church and Pine Streets, where there is an interior staircase and an elevator.

The 2019 GMF Martin Luther King Day Celebration event is in four segments separated by breaks with refreshments.  You are welcome to attend part or all of the Program:

SCHEDULE

  • 2:00-2:15 Introduction: ‘Why Are We Here? Sandra Ronan
  • 2:15-2:45 ‘Shadowed Lives,’ Effects of Slavery on Cape Ann Stephanie Buck
  • 2:45-3:00 Break with Refreshments 
  • 3:05-3:50 The Honorable Seth Moulton United States Representative, Massachusetts 6th Congressional District
  • 3:05-3:50 Alvin Foster and his band Soul Eclectic, music that underpinned Black people’s courage to be happy and celebrate life, love, spirituality and growth in the face of racism
  • 3:50-4:00 Break with Refreshments
  • 4:00-5:00 Keynote Speaker: Clennon L. King, ‘MLK’S Boston Years’ The award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist Clennon L. King will present a slideshow, focusing on the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s movements in Boston and New England, from the fall of 1951 to the spring of 1954, to be followed by Q&A with the audience
  • 5:00-5:15 Break with Refreshments
  • 5:15-6:00 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech accompanied by a slide show of period and present-day images
  • Conclusion Audience invited to join in ringing the Paul Revere Bell for freedom

This free annual civic event is hosted by the Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation. GMF mugs, caps, totes, shirts, and memberships are available along with refreshments all through the afternoon and your support is greatly appreciated.
Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation

Front stairs open but approach is icy. Approach from side entrance. Many have suggested a temporary winter ice skating rink on this glorious spot but not in this way.

 

 

Martin Luther King

Posted on by Donna Ardizzoni

When working at the graduate school at Wheelock College in Boston during 2000-2003, I was making some travel arrangements for a guest speaker. As I was working on these arrangements, noticed the name was a professor Christine King Farris from Spelman College in Atlanta Georgia. She asked me for an escort as she stated she never travels alone after what had happened to her brother. What an honor to have met this woman and she was so kind to sign a book on her brother who was Martin Luther King. I have kept this and feel honored to have it.
January 20, 2014 MLKJanuary 20, 2014 Christine King Farris

Watch this with your kids

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

We can talk about him all we want, but there’s just no substitute for the real thing.  Dr. King is one of the greatest orators of all time.  His brilliantly written speeches are full of musical references, quotes from songs, poetry and metaphor — all woven into a moving piece of performance art.  Dr. King’s voice is lyrical and musical.   It’s like hearing a great song — as entertaining as it is profound.  Enjoy!

P&V’s LOL #10: Lasting change never comes until you defy authority

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

Martin Luther King, Jr. arrested in Montgomery, AL on 4 Sep 1958

It’s obvious, really.  Authority is the machine that defends the status quo.  It’s like inertia — a body stays in motion or at rest until a force acts against it.  Defiance is that force.  When you look at people from all times and cultures who have brought us lasting change,  defiance is the one thread that runs through their words and deeds.

Let’s start with Jesus.  He was defiant at every turn.  When he said, “if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also;” he was preaching defiance, not submission as some people think.  In Jesus’ culture you’d only strike someone with your right hand.  You’d punch or slap a peer, which would land on his left cheek.  But masters backhanded slaves, hitting their right cheeks.  It was an insult.  So by turning your cheek to present your left side, you are defying both the insult and the authority of the master, thereby treating him as your equal.  (For a more scholarly treatment of Jesus’ nonviolent defiance, click here.)

The founders of our country were defiant.  One quick read of the Declaration of Independence settles that matter.

Gandhi was defiant.  Using the “weapon” of non-violence, he simply refused to accept British rule.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was defiant, exalting the practice of non-violent civil disobedience to new heights in order to bring us the lasting change that paved the way for an African-American to be inaugurated for his second term into the highest office of authority anywhere, on the official national holiday celebrated in Dr. King’s name.

Last Friday, activists posted MKL’s I Have A Dream Speech on YouTube as an act of civil disobedience defying the copyright laws that make posting his speeches illegal.

Watch this video with your kids.  It’s not just a lesson in how to bring lasting change.  Dr. King is one of the greatest orators of all time.  His brilliantly written speeches are full of musical references, quotes from songs, poetry and metaphor — all woven into a moving piece of performance art.  Dr. King’s voice is lyrical and musical.   It’s like hearing a great song — as entertaining as it is profound.  Enjoy!

So what’s next . . .?

"How Long? Not long," says Dr. King.

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

1-17-12
Peter introduces another lyrical speech by Dr. King whose treatment of this familiar song is like nothing else you’ve ever heard.

J.B. Amero sits in for Dan King tonight at Jalapenos.  Snow’s gone.  Music’s on.  So get out and have some fun.

Martin Luther King Jr ~ gimmesound artist of the week

Posted on by Vickie & Peter

kingphoto

This afternoon Dave Sags and the Good Old Salty Jazz Band is at the Rose Baker Senior Center till 3pm ~ Take the kids and enjoy some great music and celebrate life.

Tonight the Bandit Kings host the open jam at the Rhumb Line with George Hall sitting in for Dan King before they head to the west coast.  Swing by to send them off with a bang.