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When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in April 1968,
Princeton University and the local community commemorated the fallen civil
rights activist in several ways. Coincidentally, James Farmer, the
former director of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), was on campus
to speak at a conference of Jewish students from several colleges about
lessening interracial tension in American cities and campuses. Farmer
instead spoke to a larger assemblage of white and black students and community
members about the importance of Dr. King’s work. On the day
of Dr. King’s funeral service, the Association of Black Collegians
(known as ABC) conducted special discussion groups on race relations,
equality and justice for the entire academic community. ABC also
held an hour-long silent vigil in honor of Dr. King in Palmer Square,
attended by 200 community members and students, including Marion Sleet
’69, shown in this picture.
- To learn more about diversity at Princeton, see
quotation #6, 10, 13,
14, 20, 23,
29, and 31, and Café
Vivian picture #29, 53,
59, 60, 66,
and 72.
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