Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Archive

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who earned a PhD in systematic theology from BU‘s School of Theology in 1955 and donated his papers to the University

The King papers measure 85 linear feet and include manuscripts for his sermons, speeches, books, and essays, as well as extensive correspondence, office files, printed materials, awards, photographs, and other items, covering his career as a minister, public speaker, and advocate for racial equality and justice. The material primarily ranges from King’s years as an undergraduate college student through 1965, and includes documentation of his work with the Montgomery Improvement Association, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Dexter Avenue and Ebenezer Baptist Churches, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the American Friends Service Committee, the Congress of Racial Equality, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the NAACP, and other organizations.

You can view the Finding Aid to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection that details his education, life, and work from 1947 to 1963.

More of Dr. King’s papers, spanning from 1944 to 1968, can be found at Morehouse College, his undergraduate alma mater. View the Finding Aid to the Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection here.

A curated exhibition of facsimiles of his papers is on permanent display in the Martin Luther King Jr. Reading Room on the 3rd floor of the Mugar Memorial Library. The Reading Room is open to the BU community, and to visitors with appointments per the University Libraries visiting guidelines.