The question is asked often. Did Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ever visit the University of Utah campus? An article that ran in the U student newspaper dated January 30, 1961, announces King’s visit, to take place the following day. In this article, reporter Elaine Krans explained how students can get tickets to King’s speech. She also touched on the “sit-in” campaigns that were happening across the South, King’s two books, his travels throughout Europe, Asia and Africa and his 1959 trip to India where he met with government representatives and had discussions with leaders of the Gandhian Trust.

In a snippet in the January 31 issue of the Chrony, the title of King’s speech, “The Future of Integration” is announced. The article reads, “His address is intended to give first-hand information on the Negro situation in today’s South and the challenges facing integration efforts.”

“It’s pretty interesting to see coverage of King’s visit and to imagine the campus at that time,” comments Heidi Brett, marketing and public relations director at the Marriott Library. “While King’s visit was brief, his message was resolute and campus connections were forged.”

Dr. Tim Chambless, associate political science professor at the U who has “Been on campus for 50 years,” was interviewed in a KUTV News segment last year by reporter Jamie McGriff. Chambless remembers how JD Williams, then chair of the Political Science Department and the first director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics, had to keep the crowd in place as King’s plane was delayed by over an hour.

When King took the stage in front of 1,500 students, faculty and staff, he credited those who had picketed Woolworths and Kress department stores in Salt Lake roughly a year prior. Explains Chambless, “The reason why is because there were stores in Salt Lake City that were affiliated with stores elsewhere in the country where there was racial segregation.”

An article also appeared in the U’s yearbook the “Utonian” in 1961, which can be accessed through Special Collections. Use the Utah Digital Newspapers for more research on King’s visit and the civil rights movement.