When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Visited Maine

Today is the day we remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A man who is known for his peaceful, civil rights protests in the 1960s. What some Mainer's don't know is that he visited the Pine Tree State in '64.

On May 6, 1964, Dr. King and Bayard Rustin visited Maine when they accepted an invitation from the Bowdoin Political Forum at Bowdoin College.

While at Bowdoin, Dr. King viewed a portrait called, "The Portrayal of the Negro in American Painting." He was scheduled to speak that evening at the Packard Theatre.

The event was so well promoted that they had to move the speaking engagement to the First Parish Church, which would hold more people.

According to college officials, Dr. King spoke about having a coordinated campaign of civil disobedience to keep the civil rights issue in the public eye and to then bring it to the conscience of the nation.

This was discussed at the college's Main Lounge discussion.

Concerning violent protests, Dr. King was quoted to have said,

"Violence would create more social problems than it solves."

While planning a national occupation in Washington D.C. on April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated by James Earl Ray at a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was made a U.S. federal holiday when President Ronald Reagan made it official in 1986.