Commemorative plate featuring Martin Luther King Jr. from Mae's Millinery Shop: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A commemorative plate featuring a painted portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on pasteboard in the center of the metal plate. Text printed along the top rim reads "I HAVE A DREAM-FREEDOM FOR ALL MY PEOPLE". Text printed inside a box on the bottom center rim reads "Reverend / Martin Luther King." A brief biography of King, mostly focusing on his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, is printed in black text on the reverse of the plate. A cut-out in the metal at the top of the back of the plate allows for hanging by a nail or hook.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1964-1968
• Manufactured by: Unidentified
• Owned by: Mae Reeves, American, 1912 - 2016
• Subject of: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., American, 1929 - 1968
• Subject of: Mae's Millinery Shop, American, 1941 - 1994
• Type: commemoratives
• Type: portraits
• Medium: metal, paint, and ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 3/4 × 8 1/4 × 8 1/4 in. (1.9 × 21 × 21 cm)
• Place collected: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Black Enterprise
• Topic: Business
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Millinery
• Topic: U.S. History, 1961-1969
• Topic: Women
• Object number: 2010.6.25
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift from Mae Reeves and her children, Donna Limerick and William Mincey, Jr.
• 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: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.