Stevie Wonder singing “Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King to you” at rally on the National Mall in protest for a MLK Jr. National Holiday: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black-and-white photograph of a birthday memorial celebration for Martin Luther King, Jr. on the grounds of the Washington Monument. The image features a line of people with arms crossed and holding hands. In the line is Stevie Wonder, singing "Happy Birthday" into a microphone. From left to right in the front row are LeBaron Taylor, vice president of CBS Records; Kenney Gamble of Philadelphia International Records; Lula Hardaway, Stevie’s mother; D.C. Council chairman Dave Clark; Sam Jordan, a D.C. city government official; Reverend Jesse Jackson; Stevie Wonder; Representative John Conyers; singer Johnny Taylor; and Georgie Woods, Philadelphia disc jockey. The photograph is stamped and inscribed on the back.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: January 15, 1981
• Photograph by: Milton Williams, American, born 1940
• Subject of: Stevie Wonder, American, born 1950
• Subject of: Rev. Jesse Jackson, American, 1941 - 2026
• Subject of: John Conyers Jr., American, 1929 - 2019
• Subject of: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., American, 1929 - 1968
• Subject of: LeBaron Taylor, American, 1935 - 2000
• Subject of: Kenny Gamble, American, born 1943
• Subject of: Lula Mae Hardaway, American, 1930 - 2006
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 9 1/4 x 14 in. (23.5 x 35.6 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)
• Place depicted: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Topic: U.S. History, 1969-2001
• Object number: 2011.15.100
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Milton Williams Archives
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Milton Williams Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.