The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. has become the definitive record of the most significant correspondence, sermons, speeches, published writings, and unpublished manuscripts of one of America's most well-known advocates for peace and justice.

Our lesson plans provide historically accurate and pedagogically effective curriculum that addresses issues of social justice, transformation, and reconciliation. Photo by AP/Wide World Photos.

Professor of History, Stanford University
Director, Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute

Dr. Clayborne Carson has devoted his professional life to the study of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the movements King inspired. Since receiving his doctorate from UCLA in 1975, Dr. Carson has taught at Stanford University, where he is now professor of history and founding director of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute. He is also Martin Luther King, Jr. Distinguished Professor at Morehouse College in Atlanta and serves as Executive Director of that institution's Morehouse King Collection. Dr. Carson has been a visiting professor or visiting fellow at American University, the University of California, Berkeley, Emory University, Harvard University, and the Center for the Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford.
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This course will introduce students to the life and times of Martin Luther King, Jr. Although King was one of the most widely-known Americans of the twentieth century, there is still much to learn about his formative experiences in Atlanta, his relationship to the broader African- American freedom struggle, his rise to international prominence, and his enduring historical significance. Utilizing the unique resources of the Morehouse King Collection housed in the Robert W. Woodruff Library, the instructor and guest lecturers – including several former King associates – will address various topics related to King’s life. Class website

Read our new brochure online! Learn about all aspects of the King Institute including the King Papers Project, the Liberation Curriculum, and bios on Scholar in Residence, Clarence B. Jones and Director Clayborne Carson.

In this unit, students will study Dr. King’s stance against the Vietnam War and its economic and social costs. By examining Dr. King’s evolving views on Vietnam and his treatment by the FBI, students will develop a deeper, more compassionate understanding of Dr. King. Author Bill Jeffers teaches at Mission San Jose High School.

This unit helps students understand the challenges faced by people who fought to integrate schools in the south in the 60s. Students become familiar with the role of young people like themselves in the African-American freedom struggle. Author Lara Burenin teaches at East Palo Alto Academy. She taught at Encompass Academy in Oakland when she wrote this unit.

This unit examines how African-Americans used music as a creative art form and reflective process to stay motivated and build strength as they worked for change in the civil rights struggle. Author Kelly Clark teaches at Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy.

In this unit, students will debunk traditional misconceptions of the civil rights movement, better reframed as the African-American freedom struggle. Students will understand that the movement in the 50s was part of a longer freedom struggle, that it was interracially supported, and that its success was due to the contributions of ordinary people, not just its leaders. Author Miroslaba Velo teaches at Tennyson High School.

This unit will help students identify similarities between the labor movement and the African-American freedom struggle or civil rights movement. Students will also understand Dr. King’s role in the labor movement. Author Corinne Geballe now teaches at Woodin School in Washington state. She taught at Green Oaks Academy in East Palo Alto, CA when she wrote this unit.

This unit uses the “Stepping into the Picture” teaching strategy to help students learn about the events that occurred before, during, and after the Selma to Montgomery March for voting rights. Author Renee Semik teaches at Santa Monica High School in Southern California.

In this unit, students study the contributions of Dr. King and other major figures to the civil rights movement, also known as the African-American freedom struggle, and use what they learn to define how he should be remembered. Author Risha Krishna teaches at Mission San Jose High School.

California teachers selected to participate in the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) funded King Digital History Project created model lesson plans on Dr. King and the African-American freedom struggle, using the King Institute's documentary resources and professional development training.

The King Institute's Director will teach a course at Morehouse College this fall based on that institution's vast collection of King's personal papers and featuring in-class interviews with King associates and veterans of the civil rights movement.

The King Research and Education Institute is launching an online database making details and descriptions of over four thousand documents on or about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. publicly available.

The Online King Records Access (OKRA) database provides easily searchable access to information on thousands of speeches, sermons, letters, and other historic documents by and about Martin Luther King, Jr.!

Noted historian John Hope Franklin, a member of the National Advisory board of the King Papers Project/King Institute, died on March 25 at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina.

This week Dr. King’s son, Martin Luther King III, will commemorate his parents’ historic journey to India. Organized by the U.S. Department of State, King III will be accompanied by members of U.S. Congress, including John Lewis, the last surviving speaker from the 1963 March on Washington; Clayborne Carson, editor of King’s papers; and jazz musician Herbie Hancock. The Hindu, India's national newspaper, reflects on this historic event.

In 1961 John Lewis volunteered for the first Freedom Rides coordinated by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and CORE. Lewis suffered a severe beating by a group of whites during the rides. In February 2009 former Klansman Elwin Wilson appologizes to Lewis for the beating that occured nearly fifty years ago.

CBS Producer Cesar Chavez visited Stanford's Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute 26 January to interview Director Clayborne Carson as part of a series of thirty minute public service announcements in commemoration of February's rich history month. The interview will air on CBS 5 and the CW44, Cable 12 through the month of February.

Dr. Clayborne Carson, Professor of History and founding Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute at Stanford University, spoke on "The Global Vision and Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr." to a packed Wilkins Moot Courtroom on February 4 as the UC Davis School of Law launched the new California International Law Center at King Hall (CILC).

This year at the 23rd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday Celebration in San Francisco attendees were asked to answer the question, "What would Dr. King want to say to Barack Obama?" The following quotes are some of the answers we received.

Join LC and Facing History & Ourselves from 4:30 - 8:30 pm on Feb 4th, 2009 at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco for a teachers' workshop on Eyes on the Prize.

The Ahimsa Center at CSU Pomona invites K-12 educators to participate in a interdisciplinary residential summer institute called Journeys of Nonviolence: Gandhi and King.

Tuscaloosa residents will have more than one civil rights milestone to celebrate next week, when Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed and the country inaugurates its first black president. Clayborne Carson, professor of history and director of the King Papers Project at Stanford University, will share his views on the global impact of King’s work. Carson, who is compiling King’s speeches, notes and papers into a 14-volume collection, will provide insight into King’s lesser-known works.

In his article published in the L.A. Watts Times and Times of India, Stanford history Professor, Clayborne Carson, discusses Obama's link with King and Gandhi. Carson's article honors the synchronicity between the fiftieth anniversary of King's pilgrimage to India, and the inauguration of President Obama.

Morehouse College announced that it has digitized and archived three-quarters of a major collection of the civil rights leader's works, that the city of Atlanta acquired in 2006. Stanford history Professor, Clayborne Carson expresses his excitement over the public project. Read more . . .

The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is a chance to honor someone who had a lot to say about how to build a democracy from diversity, said Clayborne Carson, a professor of history at Stanford University.

Morehouse College President, Robert M. Franklin, announces the appointment of Clayborne Carson as Martin Luther King, Jr. Distinguished Professor and Executive Director of the Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection. See press conference

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute invites you to our 2009 King Holiday Celebration. A schedule of King Holiday events occurring on campus and in the local area can be viewed here.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute invites you to our 2009 King Holiday Celebration.

Find out about 2009 King Holiday events occurring on campus and in the local area!

Rev. James Bevel, one of King's top lieutenants, passed away on 19 December 2008 from pancreatic cancer.

Pioneers of the civil rights movement gathered in the District of Columbia on the 2 and 3 December for a briefing about the Martin Luther King Jr., National Memorial to be situated on the National Mall. In addition to being informed about the status of the Memorial, participants of the event were acknowledged as historical leaders who took part in the early days of struggle for civil rights. Stanford history professor, Clayborne Carson, who is also Director of the King Institute at Stanford, joined his fellow pioneers at the briefing, having also participated in the designing process of the Memorial.

On 1 December 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. This single act of nonviolent resistance sparked the Montgomery bus boycott.

Visit the King Resources area of our site for resources including:
• King’s biography and autobiography
• King’s speeches and sermons
• Montgomery Bus Boycott
• March on Washington

Clayborne Carson, a professor of history at Stanford University, said the greatest impact of Obama’s election will be felt internationally.

Liberation Curriculum conducts professional development workshops for teachers enrolled in ‘Words That Made America’ (WTMA), managed by Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE) and funded by a Teaching American History (TAH) grant.