2018 Governor’s Award HonoreesThe Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection received a 2018 Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities for its preservation of artifacts representing the life and legacy of Dr. King.
Stored in the AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library, the King Collection features more than 13,000 items from King’s life and work between 1944 and 1968, according to the college. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and First Lady Sandra Deal, in partnership with the Georgia Council for the Arts, presented the Governor’s Award to the collection and nine other recipients in early October.
“The Morehouse College King Collection is a national treasure that provides insight into the thoughts and writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. as he developed as a student, a minister and a preeminent civil rights leader who captured world recognition with his nonviolent protests against racial injustice and segregation,” said Morehouse president Dr. David A. Thomas. “At Morehouse, we are committed to sharing King’s philosophy and work with the public.”
The King Collection includes handwritten notes, manuscripts, sermons, famous and lesser-known speeches, nearly 1,100 books from King’s personal library and historic mementos such as a telegram from President Lyndon B. Johnson inviting King to the signing of the Voting Rights Act and correspondences with other Civil Rights Movement leaders, including Andrew Young, Walter Fauntroy and Reverend Joseph E. Lowery.
Additional Governor’s Award honorees included the Athens Ciné, Friends of Historic Jekyll Island, James S. Crisp, Janice Faircloth, Ellen Thompson, Historic Oakland Foundation, National Black Arts Festival, Pearl Cleage and Azira G. Hill.
