Dr. King's coffin. The tall pallbearer near the front of the casket is John Parent, a student from Morehouse College. Parent's uncle is civil rights activist Whitney Young.
Civil Rights leader and current U.S. Representative John Lewis (foreground) and Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles (background)
United States Senators Wayne Morse from Oregon (L) and Edward Brooke from Massachusetts (R)
United States Senator from New York Jacob K. Javits (L)
Former Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee program secretary Cleveland Sellers, Jr. (center, background) and SNCC field secretary Mukasa Dada, then known as Willie Ricks (center, foreground)
Black Power leader and former SNCC chairman Kwame Ture, then known as Stokely Carmichael (background)
New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller (R) and wife Happy Rockefeller (L)
Michigan Governor George W. Romney (L) and comedian Dick Gregory (R)
Boxer Floyd Patterson
Civil rights activist Myrlie Evers (later known as Myrlie Evers-Williams) and her daughter, Reena Denise. Myrlie Evers was the widow of Medgar Evers, who served as Mississippi field secretary for the NAACP. He was assassinated by Byron De La Beckwith in 1963.
United States Senator from New York Bobby Kennedy and his administrative assistant Earl G. Graves, Sr. (R)
Richard Nixon (L) and NBA star Wilt Chamberlain (R), possibly Etta James over Nixon's left shoulder
Linda Wilson in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C.
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This home movie captures scenes of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral procession in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 9, 1968. After a restricted service at Ebenezer Baptist Church (the church could only hold 1,300 people), where both Martin Luther King, Sr. and Jr. were pastors, a procession made its way to Morehouse College, King’s alma mater, for a public service. The three-and-a-half mile procession was walked by King’s inner circle, family, friends, civil rights leaders, politicians, and mourners from the general public. Dr. King’s coffin was carried in a mule-drawn wagon. Among those present, and captured in scenes on this film, are Rev. Samuel “Billy” Kyles; civil rights leader and current U.S. Representative John Lewis; United States Senators Edward Brooke, Jacob K. Javits, Wayne Morse, and Bobby Kennedy; Earl G. Graves, Sr., the administrative assistant to Senator Kennedy; former Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) program secretary and current president of Voorhees College Cleveland Sellers, Jr.; former SNCC field secretary Mukasa Dada, then known as Willie Ricks; Black Power leader, former SNCC chairman, and "Honorary Prime Minister" of the Black Panther Party Kwame Ture, then known as Stokely Carmichael; civil rights activist Myrlie Evers-Williams; New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller and his wife Happy; Michigan Governor George W. Romney; comedian Dick Gregory; professional boxer Floyd Patterson; NBA star Wilt Chamberlain; and Richard Nixon. (Big thank you to historian Paul Lee for identifying several of the figures captured.) Also included are opening scenes of the Texas-Mexico border in El Paso-Ciudad Juarez and closing scenes of Linda Wilson enjoying some roadside flowers. If you recognize any of the members of Dr. King’s procession, please email us at info@texasarchive.org.
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