A Post for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, 2023: An Oldie but a Goodie

[Note: As regular readers of this blog know, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., remains one of my heroes, and I try to recognize Dr. King and his accomplishments annually, usually around his national holiday. Over the past few years, I’ve broadened my approach to Dr. King’s contributions to American history (e.g., here and here) Yet, I keep coming back to King’s role as the face and the voice of the Modern Civil Rights Movement in the United States.

So, this is another of those early posts, delving into my lifelong interest in the career of Dr. King, how I first learned about him, as a young boy growing up in an industrial suburb of Baltimore, Maryland. This year, I want to go back to the beginning, reprinting a post that first appeared in 2012, and again in 2015. Over the years, it has been one of the most popular posts at “Retired But Not Shy,” as well as my personal favorite. I hope you’ll enjoy it!]

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Civil Rights–and Wrongs: Reflections on The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and His Legacy

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For those interested in reading more of my reflections on history, here are links to my books on the subject:

Rancorous Enmities and Blind Partialities: Parties and Factions in Georgia, 1807-1845 (University Press of America, 2015)

In Pursuit of Dead Georgians: One Historian’s Excursions into the History of His Adopted State (iUniverse, 2015)

Politics on the Periphery: Factions and Parties in Georgia, 1783-1806 (University of Delaware Press, 1986)

About georgelamplugh

I retired in 2010 after nearly four decades of teaching History at the "prep school" level with a PhD. My new "job" was to finish the book manuscript I'd been working on, in summers only, since 1996. As things turned out, not only did I complete that book, but I also put together a collection of my essays--published and unpublished--on Georgia history. Both volumes were published in the summer of 2015. I continue to work on other writing projects, including a collection of essays on the Blues and, of course, my blog.

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3 Responses to A Post for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, 2023: An Oldie but a Goodie

Annie Williams says:

January 16, 2023 at 3:26 pm

George: always good to hear from you … and your online posts are usually right on target! –annie williams (in sunny Kansas)

- georgelamplugh says:
  
  January 16, 2023 at 8:48 pm
  
  Thanks, as always, for your thoughtful comments on my posts. I couldn’t do them without support from you, and other folks like you. Thanks again!
  George
  
Glen Browder says:

September 27, 2025 at 8:35 am

Hello George. I’m sorry that I missed your 2010 account of “Two books I wish I’d read while I was still teaching civil rights”; but I just discovered and read it yesterday. Thanks for your interest and comments. Dr. Stanberry and I acknowledge that “Stealth Reconstruction” is not a comprehensive treatment of the Civil Rights Movement; however, we are proud to have had the opportunity to make this contribution based on our academic work and practical experience. We think it plugs an important gap in the literature that most historians, political scientists, and politicians seem reluctant or unable to address. Thanks again for your efforts over the years; and I hope that we will be able to visit again before too long.