One quiet evening in Memphis, Tennessee – history stopped, not knowing what the next day would bring.
Taken on April 3, 1968, this black and white photo shows Martin Luther King Jr. standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. He stands second from right, surrounded by fellow civil rights leaders—Hosea Williams on one side, and Jesse Jackson and Ralph Abernathy beside him—capturing a moment of quiet camaraderie on the eve of historic tragedy.
The story behind the picture
Taken just a day before the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. at roughly the same location in Memphis—the image is both ordinary and profoundly profound.
He was fatally shot on April 4, 1968 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was transferred to St. Josef, where he was pronounced dead.
Martin Luther King Jr. was 39 years old.
His killing was one of four major assassinations that rocked the United States in the 1960s. Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. it came after the assassinations of John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Malcolm X in 1965, and just two months before Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in June 1968.
The photo that survived
During Black History Month, this photo serves as a powerful reminder of the people behind the American Civil Rights Movement—their courage and the weight of the cause they carried. The image froze one of the last moments of a man whose dream would survive him, echoing across generations.
On that fateful day in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers. At the time, Memphis hygienists – most of whom were African American – were paid a pittance of about $1.00 an hour.
In its immobility, the image speaks loudly of the efforts of a social activist who has been at the forefront of the American civil rights movement since the mid-1950s – history is not written only in grand speeches.
King’s assassination sparked widespread unrest across the US, with rioting, looting and violence in more than 100 cities. The riots led to numerous arrests, injuries, and deaths, and exposed the deep-seated racial tensions and despair felt in the wake of King’s death.
The man behind the lens
The historic photo was taken by Charles Kelly, who was an Associated Press photographer. Based in Atlanta, he was known for covering the civil rights movement, Vietnam POW families, sports and politics during a career that spanned more than 30 years. He died in 2016.
