To mark the 2026 observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Newsroom has compiled a selection of stories highlighting the university's archival materials on the late civil rights icon and the ways in which his life and work have inspired social justice and teaching at UCLA.
When Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at UCLA
UCLA Library’s Special Collections holds important artifacts of UCLA’s history. The film clip of Martin Luther King Jr. speaking on campus in 1965, combined with audio discovered by people in the communications studies department reveals more about what is was like on that day, and just how many students were there to hear his message of justice.
Listen to King’s full speech on the UCLA Communications Studies YouTube channel.
For double-Bruin and student leader Naomi Hammonds, every day is a ‘National Day of Service’
In 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. described health injustice as “the most shocking and the most inhuman” form of inequality. Nearly six decades later, Hammonds, now a graduate student at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, is stepping up to address that moral challenge through community research, leadership and service. The former USAC president — who is the first Bruin to lead student government as both an undergraduate and a graduate student — is working closely with campus leadership and advocates for better student health and wellness, while continuing to help mentor Bruins in the UCLA College’s Division of Life Sciences.
Hear from Hammonds about how she centers MLK’s ideas of service, and how her UCLA experience continues to shape her path forward.
UCLA hosts historic performance with origins in the life, legacy of MLK
In 2023, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music faculty Arturo O’Farrill and Diane White-Clayton premiered original works alongside a performance of jazz icon Dave Brubeck’s “The Gates of Justice,” a cantata composed in the aftermath of King’s 1968 assassination to address increasing tensions between Jewish and Black communities.
Learn more about how UCLA’s “music and justice” concerts connect to King’s message of hope.
King’s teachings passed from one of his contemporaries to UCLA undergraduates
For over two decades, the late Rev. James Lawson Jr. inspired students to carry on the fight for justice in his course that explored nonviolent theory and its impact on social movements in the U.S, and around the globe.
Learn about how the nonviolence class connected students to King’s enduring legacy, and how historian Robin D.G. Kelley has shaped the course for the present moment.
Chaos or community? Professors reflect on Martin Luther King Jr.’s final message of hope
In 2021, members of the UCLA faculty shared their thoughts on King’s last published work, a treatise on the slain civil rights leader’s vision of the ongoing struggle for economic equality, educational equity and freedom for all Americans regardless of race.
Hear from scholars across campus about what King’s writings meant to them.
Archival papers show bond between UCLA’s Ralph Bunche and Martin Luther King Jr.
UCLA Library’s Special Collections house a unique personal statement from Bunche on King’s assassination, three telegrams and letters the UCLA alumnus and Nobel Peace Prize-winner wrote to support and congratulate King during his lifetime.
Learn more about why the collection is an important Bruin legacy.
Video collection honors Martin Luther King Jr.’s contributions and legacy
The UCLA Film & Television Archive houses 100 moving image holdings relevant to the study of the iconic civil rights leader, including newsreels and TV documentaries like “King in the Wilderness,” which chronicles the final chapters of King’s life.
Learn more about the collection and how to access some of the content online.
UCLA professors reflect on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
In 2018, six Black faculty members reflected on the themes in King’s final manuscript and discussed the role that UCLA could play in advancing the spirit, hopefulness and boundless effort that King continues to inspire.
Watch them speak to King’s agenda of equality and justice on the 50th anniversary of his assassination.
