On Tuesday, February 7, as Coretta Scott King was being laid to rest, Phyllis Murray wrote a post on EdWize memoralizing Mrs. King’s life. In the post, Phyllis quoted a passage from Dr. King’s speech at the 1964 UFT Spring Conference, where he accepted the UFT’s highest honor — the John Dewey Award.
Named after the famous American educational thinker and philosopher who was a prominent member of the New York City teacher unions which were the predecessor organizations of the UFT, the John Dewey Award recognizes Americans who have made distinguished contributions to public education and American democracy. In addition to King, Dewey Award honrees have included Eleanor Roosevelt, Thurgood Marshall, Norman Thomas and former President Bill Clinton.
I was fascinated that Dr. King had given a speech to the UFT, and more fascinated that he’d received a John Dewey Award in 1964 at the height of the civil rights movement and the battle over the Civil Rights Act. I tried to acquire a text of the speech, which at this point I’m told only exists on microfiche.
While the John Dewey Award figures prominently in honors that Dr. King received during his life, I wasn’t able to find an audio version of the speech on the Internet. I was told that the UFT had an archive of the actual speech itself, recorded on audio tape. After a search, we were able to find that audio tape, which we’ve digitized and uploaded to Edwize. The audio recording of Dr. King’s speech will be posted in the next thread.
The speech was delivered March 14, 1964, seven months after the famous March on Washington where King gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. It touches upon education, teachers, racism, segregation and the fight to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
2 Comments:
1 phyllis c. murray
· Feb 10, 2006 at 7:57 pm
To: Kombiz Lavasany
I have a copy of Dr. King’s Speech Entitled: “Out of the Mountain of Despair the Stone of Hope.” It was published by the UFT as a part of the UFT Educational Series. The cover has a portrait of Dr. King and the following statement:
On March 14, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King received the John Dewey Award of the United Federation of Teachers for his outstanding contribution to the education of all Americans. His eloquent message on that occasion is reprinted on these pages.
Award Citation
The United Federation of Teachers presents with pride this John Dewey Award to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., eloquent spokesman for millions in the great social crisis of our time, dreamer and doer, educator in the profoundest sense of the word.
The sense of involvement which led Dr. King to a Birmingham jail, where he wrote: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” reflects the spirit and drive of John Dewey. It mirrors also the dedication of many teachers today, and their determination to share in the construction of a future in which Dr. King’s dream and Dr. King’s America shall be one and the same.
In presenting this award, the United Federation of Teachers pays homage to one who is molding a better America for us all.
April, 1964
The final page of the publication has the following message:
Martin Luther King
1929-1968
The sudden and violent death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., places a serious and profound obligation on all Americans, black and white-an obligation to continue and broaden the now stilled efforts of Dr. King to build a society where racial justice and peace prevail. That dream of a new and just American society is shared by millions upon millions of Americans – and that dream will not die.
We have been proud to walk with Dr. King in Mississippi and in Washington and to work with him in establishing freedom schools in the South. In this tragic hour, we rededicate ourselves to his cause.
—–Albert Shanker
President, UFT
Upon learning of the death of Martin Luther King.
N.B.
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Instructional Package was published in 1991 by the UFT. Celeste Green and I wrote
the lesson plans which, combined with the
audio tape of King’s Speech, formed the Package.
Fortunately, the transcript of King’s speech, the actual audio tape and
Instructional Package are still available.
Dr. King’s message is worth holding on to
Lest We Forget.
Phyllis C. Murray
2 Kombiz
· Feb 10, 2006 at 9:23 pm
Phyllis,
I appreciate the fact that your original post led me to look for originally a text of the speech which led me to find an audio recording of the speech. I was told after I posted the speech that there was a lesson plan created by the UFT. I will try to post that and instructions on how to download to various media in the next few weeks.
Kombiz