Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. April 3, 1968: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is a black-and-white poster with an illustrated image of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. next to a quote from his final speech, delivered in Memphis on April 3, 1968. The poster is a square piece of off-white paper filled from margin to margin with large hand-lettered bubble font. The letters are outlined in black and are off-white in the center. The quote reads, "Like anybody, I would like to live a long life – longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land." In the bottom right quadrant is an illustrated portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He is shown from the chest up, and only the right-hand shoulder. His head is turned towards his right shoulder, and he is gazing slightly upwards. He wears a dark suit and tie over a collared shirt. Along the bottom margin is small black text that reads “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. April 3, 1968.”

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 2018
• Designed by: Gail Anderson, American, born 1962
• Subject of: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., American, 1929 - 1968
• Type: posters
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W: 24 × 24 in. (61 × 61 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Art
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Graphic design
• Object number: 2020.11.20
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Gail Anderson
• 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: © Gail Anderson Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.