Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr., an American clergyman and civil rights leader, was shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. King was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, and was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. CST. He was a prominent leader of the Civil Rights Movement and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was known for his use of nonviolence and civil disobedience. James Earl Ray, a fugitive from the Missouri State Penitentiary, was arrested on June 8, 1968, in London at Heathrow Airport, extradited to the United States, and charged
Sermons and speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. Sermons and speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. The sermons and speeches of Martin Luther King Jr., comprise an extensive catalog of American writing and oratory – some of which are internationally well-known, while others remain unheralded, and some await re-discovery. Martin Luther King Jr. was a prominent African-American clergyman, a civil rights leader, and a Nobel laureate. King himself observed, "In the quiet recesses of my heart, I am fundamentally a clergyman, a Baptist preacher." The famous "I Have a Dream" address was delivered in August 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Less well-remembered