Old Main Bells to Ring Commemorating Martin Luther King Jr.'s Life April 4

Special Collections

Martin Luther King Jr. speaking at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff commencement ceremony in 1958.

In unity with the National Civil Rights Museum and campuses across the United States, the University Libraries and the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences are co-sponsoring a ringing of the Old Main bells on April 4. 

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at 6:01 p.m. on April 4, 1968, at age 39. On the 50th anniversary of his assassination, the bells will ring 39 times — once for each year of his life. Members of the community are invited to an informal gathering shortly before 6 p.m. at the Fulbright Peace Fountain on Campus Drive to peacefully honor the memory of King.

An event to commemorate King's death will take place the same day from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, where King last stood. A live stream of the event will be available for viewing in Room 104 of Mullins Library. 

The University Libraries Special Collections department is home to several collections related to King and the Civil Rights Movement. The digital collection "Land of (Unequal) Opportunity: Documenting the Civil Rights Struggle in Arkansas" offers a variety of records and photographs that document the history of civil rights in the state. The "BAD Times" digital collection includes 20 issues of newspapers published between 1971 and 1977 by the Black Americans for Democracy, a student organization founded at the University of Arkansas in the late 1960s. 

Physical collections are available for use in the Special Collections department in Mullins Library, which is open to the general public. These collections include African American History and Civil Rights. Photos and information about King can also be found in the Daisy Bates Papers.  

"Preserving collections that document the struggles and triumphs of the civil rights movement ensure that our faculty, students and the public have access to this important history," said Lori Birrell, head of Special Collections.