EVENT INFORMATION

20
January
1986

The first federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday honours a movement's struggle

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๐Ÿ“… 20 January 1986 ๐Ÿ“ United States

The first federal observance followed years of organizing by Coretta Scott King, civil-rights groups, trade unionists and supporters. Making King's memory part of the national calendar challenged the marginalization of Black freedom struggles in public history. Commemoration did not itself fulfil the movement's demands for economic and racial justice.

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People in this event

Martin Luther King Jr.

Coretta Scott King

Organizations in this Event

The King Center