In May 1964, St. Francis College (now the University of New England) hosted a Human Rights Symposium, and one of the featured speakers was the Rev. Dr. King. The local newspaper gave thorough coverage to the symposium, as well as Dr. King’s remarks, and we’d like to share them here with you so you can read them yourselves.

It is an amazing snapshot of the time, place and people of 1964 America – and in many ways not so different from us today, still.

Four years later, after Dr. King’s murder, the paper once again shared the words he spoke to a standing-room-only crowd at the St. Francis College gymnasium in 1964. The college also held a memorial service for Dr. King.

The editorial that ran in the paper after his death, doesn’t sound much different than what we are still hearing today.