Numerous groups across the United States are preparing various events in anticipation of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day and of the inauguration of the nation’s first black president, which many consider to be MLK’s “dream” becoming reality. 

To mark what it would have been Martin Luther King Jr.'s 80th birthday, an impressive collection of the reverend’s papers became available online to the public for the first time. Among the papers posted online, there is an early draft of MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech that moved a nation 45 years ago.

The thousands of documents in the Martin Luther King Jr. Collection at Morehouse College are now available for research, the officials of the school proudly announced yesterday. The MLK collection was purchased in 2006 in an 11th-hour coup led by Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. The papers cost $32 million in a public auction.

Martin Luther King Jr. graduated in 1948 Morehouse College. The educational institution has in custody a collection of more than 10,000 documents.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was one of America’s crucial civil rights militants. The Baptist minister led a huge campaign against segregation and discrimination against African Americans in the 1960s.

The King’s efforts were successful as they led to the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He received the Nobel Peace Prize for his achievements at the age of 35.

Mr. King was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis by a rifle shot. He was in town to help organize sanitation workers strike. The assassination triggered a series of mass riots all over the United States. The African American communities in at least 100 U.S. cities revolted.