Editorial

On Oct. 29, 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke on the Grinnell campus. He delivered his prophetic message, "Remaining Awake During a Revolution," just one day before beginning his 19th jail sentence for his involvement in the civil rights movement, and only six months before his April 1968 assassination.

Forty years later, King's words are more relevant than ever. Grinnell College commemorated the anniversary with a week-long symposium on campus, Sept. 23-29, 2007.

Two Grinnell alumni, journalist Robert Hodierne '68 and Derrick Te Paske '68, documented King's visit as student photographers. The images they took of this historic event were on display in Grinnell's Smith Gallery in the Rosenfield Center, and are also available in this slideshow.

Martin Luther King, Jr. in Grinnell College Darby Gymnasium by Robert Hodierne '68

Martin Luther King, Jr. in Grinnell College Darby Gymnasium by Robert Hodierne '68

Martin Luther King, Jr. in Grinnell College Darby Gymnasium by Robert Hodierne '68

Louis Armstrong, Grinnell College Homecoming Ball 1967, Darby Gymnasium by Robert Hodierne '68

Louis Armstrong, Grinnell College Homecoming Ball 1967, Darby Gymnasium by Robert Hodierne '68

Louis Armstrong, Grinnell College Homecoming Ball 1967, Darby Gymnasium by Robert Hodierne '68

Students, faculty, and guests in Grinnell College Herrick Chapel by Robert Hodierne '68

Louis Armstrong, Grinnell College Homecoming Ball 1967, Darby Gymnasium by Robert Hodierne '68

Robert Rauschenberg, artist and Richard Cervene '51, Grinnell College professor of art, in background behind students by Derrick Te Paske '68

Harold C. Schonberg, music critic, in Grinnell College Roberts Theatre by Robert Hodierne '68

Harold Schonberg, music critic, and Paul Hersh, Grinnell College professor of music, at the piano by Robert Hodierne '68

Ralph W. Ellison, Author Edwin C. Berry, Civil Rights Leader, Grinnell College Herrick Chapel by Derrick Te Paske '68

National television cameras with photographer Robert Hodierne '68 at right, Grinnell College Darby Gymnasium by Derrick Te Paske '68

John H. Burma, Grinnell College professor of sociology; Edwin C. Berry, civil rights leader and president of the Chicago Urban League; Ralph W. Ellison, author; Bennetta B. Washington, spouse of Walter E. Washington, Commissioner, District of Columbia; at Grinnell College Herrick Chapel by Derrick Te Paske '68

James I. Armstrong, president of Middlebury College; Daniel Bell, Columbia University professor of sociology; C. Edwin Gilmour, Grinnell College professor of political science by Robert Hodierne '68

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s arrival at the Grinnell airport, where he was greeted by former FBI agent and Assistant to the President for Fundraising M. George Susens '35 (shaking hands), Grinnell Police Chief Bill Peters (right), and Sgt. Donald Ellis (left). Susens acted as King's bodyguard during his visit.

On Oct. 29, 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke on the Grinnell campus. He delivered his prophetic message, "Remaining Awake During a Revolution," just one day before beginning his 19th jail sentence for his involvement in the civil rights movement, and only six months before his April 1968 assassination.

Two Grinnellians, Robert Hodierne '68 and Derrick Te Paske '68, documented King's visit as student photographers.

In his 35 years as a journalist Robert Hodierne has worked as a writer, editor and photographer for a number of newspapers, wire services, magazines, radio and television stations, and Internet publications. Among his awards, Hodierne was part of a team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service and a Robert Kennedy Award in 1981 for a series of newspaper articles about Brown Lung disease. In early 2004 he did a six-week tour in Iraq for Military Times, and in 2005 returned to Iraq for an additional month to write about the war. Hodierne is an associate professor journalism at the University of Richmond.