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| Creator: | WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.) |
| Title: | WSB-TV newsfilm clip of Georgia governor Lester Maddox addressing some of the logistical concerns about the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia, 1968 April 8 |
| Date: | 1968 Apr. 8 |
| Description: | In this WSB newsfilm clip from Atlanta, Georgia on April 8, 1968, Georgia Governor Lester Maddox addresses some of the logistical concerns about the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., scheduled for the next day. Governor Maddox, apparently responding to a reporter's question asking if he will attend King's funeral, replies that his responsibility as governor to preserve the peace requires him to be in touch with law enforcement officers during times of potential unrest and prevents his attendance. When asked about a suggestion to close schools during the funeral, Maddox asserts that it would not be in the best interest of Georgia's children to do so. He also believes that it would be unwise to do so at a time when city and state resources are focused on the funeral. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. Funeral services in Atlanta took place on April 9 with a private service held at Ebenezer Baptist Church in the morning followed by a march to Morehouse College where a public service was held. Estimates on the number of people visiting Atlanta for the funeral ranged from 50,000 to 300,000. About 120 million viewers nation-wide watched some part of the televised services, and many businesses throughout the nation closed for the funeral. The states of New York, Connecticut, and Colorado declared legal holidays for the services. In Atlanta, city employees were sent home at 10 am, and state employees were sent home at 2 pm "for security reasons." While city and state leaders worried about potential violence in Atlanta, there were few incidents. Title supplied by cataloger. The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for digital conversion and description of the WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection. |
| Types: | Moving images | News | Unedited footage |
| Subjects: | Maddox, Lester, 1915-2003 | King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968--Death and burial | Interviews--Georgia--Atlanta | Governors--Georgia | Funeral rites and ceremonies--Georgia--Atlanta | Atlanta (Ga.) | Fulton County (Ga.) | Georgia |
| Collection: | WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection |
| Institution: | Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection |
| Contributors: | Maddox, Lester, 1915-2003 | Digital Library of Georgia | Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection | Civil Rights Digital Library Collection (Digital Library of Georgia) |
| Online Publisher: | Athens, Ga. : Digital Library of Georgia and Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia Libraries | 2007 |
| Original Material: | 1 clip (about 1 min.): color, sound ; 16 mm. Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection. |
| Rights and Usage: | WSB-TV newsfilm clip of Georgia governor Lester Maddox addressing some of the logistical concerns about the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia, 1968 April 8, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 0934, 48:20/49:37, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Ga, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia. |
| Related Materials: | Forms part of: Civil Rights Digital Library. |
| Persistent Link to Item: | http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/crdl/id:ugabma_wsbn_42468 |
