Martin Luther King, Jr. may have passed, but his message lives on in his letters, journals, essays and other documents in the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center.
Wednesday night the HGARC, located on the 5th floor of Boston University’s Mugar Memorial Library, hosted a Student Discovery seminar where students could view and even handle authentic documents.
The event took place in the main reading room, though the HGARC maintains a separate room dedicated to King and his work.
The seminar, titled “Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Nonviolent Resistance,” was designed to emphasize “the importance of non-violent resistance,” said HGARC Assistant Director for Manuscripts Ryan Hendrickson.
Hendrickson, who selected the works for the exhibit, wanted to display some of the less well-known papers.
“I made an effort to really dig through the collection,” he said.
There were five tables dedicated to King’s period and correspondence, with works from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Congress of Racial Equality, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Fellowship of Reconciliation and some of King’s own journals, writings and speeches.
There was also a table dedicated to Mahatma Ghandi, who inspired King.
Hendrickson said many of the papers at the HGARC were from King’s student days at BU, before he was “formed as this great icon.”
“He’s just a single person trying to do a lot of work,” Hendrickson said.
Walter Fluker, a professor of ethical leadership at the School of Theology, completed a dissertation using the archives in the HGARC.
Fluker said major challenges still existed surrounding class and race.
“I think race becomes ever more relevant [now],” he said.
He also said the choices students make now will affect history, and it is their decision to decide how.
“Will they stand for justice as King saw it?” Fluker asked.
Everyone who entered the reading room wore white gloves to prevent damaging the delicate materials. Sean Barley, a graduate student in the School of Theology, came to see King’s personal papers and hoped to read King’s dissertation.
“He was a man of peace, justice [and] equality for all of humankind, “ Barley said.
Tamuka Chidyausiku, an exchange student from Claflin University in South Carolina, is a brother of Alpha Phi Alpha, the fraternity King was also a member of.
“I would love to see his speech and his certificate,” he said.
School of Management freshman Cynthia Hass described herself as “obsessed” with King.
“I’ve studied him since I was a little girl,” she said.
Hass said King’s handwritten journals, which she pinned as her favorite part of the exhibit, helped her relate personally to King’s history.
“The idea of self-expression in the notebook is still there,” Hass said.
College of Arts and Sciences freshman Sarah Platt said she was also struck by the handwritten documents.
“Seeing it handwritten and everything marked makes it that much more real,” she said. “He becomes a tangible person.”
Tyler Benson, a College of Communication freshman, was impressed by the exhibit.
“It’s something that I’ve never experienced,” he said.
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