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THE RECORD TURNS 100: 2000 attend King memorial service - April 10, 1968
This week in The Record history...
On April 10, 2013
In celebration of 100 years of service to Buffalo State, The Record will re-print one former article in each of its 10 issues this semester, chronicling the paper's rich history since its establishment in 1913. This week, we feature an article that appeared in Vol. 70, Issue No. 23, published on Wednesday, April 10, 1968.
The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the balcony of his hotel
room in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968, sent the nation into disarray. As the
civil rights movement carried on and ultimately prevailed following King's death,
college students played a key role in the fight for equality. Buffalo State hosted
a memorial service for King in the days following the assassination. In a story
titled, "2000 attend King memorial service," The Record reported on the event
featuring thousands of students and seven speakers who gathered to reflect on
the life and accomplishments of King. Buffalo State students joined thousands
of others a few weeks after the service in the nation's capital to take part in the
Poor People's March on Washington, protesting "the plight of all poor people in
America."
Author unknown.
--
"Dr. King's death fortifies our determination to make this College the fullest and
richest resource it can possibly be for the improvement of human relations for
Buffalo and vicinity."
President Fretwell's statement, as read by CSA president Tom Halsall, opened
the memorial service for Dr. Martin Luther King held in Rockwell Hall auditorium,
April 5, 1968. Seven speakers addressed a capacity crowd of over 2,000
students and faculty.
Rev. Willard Williams of Lincoln Memorial Methodist Church said of King that he
was the pulse of which those lost in the ghettos could speak.
He pointed out that at the moment of his death, Dr. King was trying to prove that
non-violence was the way to break the back of the white racism.
Rev. Joseph Moore of the New Baptist Church reminded the group that King has
said he had seen a vision from God.
He pleaded with Americans to be concerned about the dual standard. He said
that no one can be free unless all are free. Rev. Moore stated that when there
finally was justice and equality for all, then King's death will not have been in
vain, but for God.
King was a man who, by the quality of his suffering, was forced to enter into the
life and experience of others, said Professor Herman Cole of the philosophy
department.
Professor Cole spoke "as a Christian who learned my Christianity from the black
man in the ghetto of Chicago." He commented that because of King's suffering,
he could translate his love and understanding into action - nonviolence.
Father John Weimer of Newman Center spoke of the absurdity of a land where
Wallace runs for president and Martin Luther King gets killed, of a land where
affluence and rats exist side by side, and of a land where the death of a man of
peace leads us to violence.
Turning to the Bible, Professor Burton Lieser of the philosophy department
reminded the audience that we are our brother's keeper and that we all bear
great guilt for what happened.
He showed that, contrary to the message in the Bible, we begrudge fellow
Americans the fruits of their labors. He referred especially to the Book of
Deuteronomy, which predicted that "if you not heed these injunctions, then
cursed shall be your cities."
Arthur O. Eve, State Assemblyman, repeated what he had told the young
people in his district, "Keep cool." He challenged the audience to have the same
commitment to equality and justice as it has for Vietnam.
SEEK Social Science Professor Armand Altman commented that people think of
civil rights incorrectly, it should be human rights.
He concluded the program by introducing five SEEK students, Arleene Porter,
Patricia Williams, Sandra Hill, Harriet Williams and Evelyn McDonald, who sang
"Where Do We Go From Here?" They were accompanied by Iona Crittendon on
the piano.
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