Remembering The Night Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Was Assassinated

On a cool and overcast Thursday evening in Memphis, TN on April 4th, 1968 at 6PM Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel when he was cut down by an assassins bullet.  Below is an intimate personal photograph from the archives of Life Magazine of Dr. King's briefcase as he had it that evening with his possessions still neatly stowed away.  This is a night that still reverberates across our national consciousness today, 45 years, 1 month and 13 days later.

 

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s neatly packed, monogrammed briefcase in his room at the Lorraine Motel, April 4, 1968 — with his brush, his pajamas, a can of shaving cream and his book, Strength to Love, visible in the pocket.