Martin Luther King Memorial

Panel K

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." Strength to Love, 1963.image: National Park Service

Panel G

"If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective." Christmas sermon, Atlanta, Georgia, 1967.image: National Park Service

Panel M

"We are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight until justice runs 'down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.'" Montgomery, Alabama, December 5, 1955. Here, King borrows a verse from the Bible, the Book of Amos, which he frequently reused in speeches.image: National Park Service

Panel J

"It is not enough to say 'We must not wage war.' It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but the positive affirmation of peace." Anti-War Conference, Los Angeles, California, February 25, 1967.image: National Park Service

Panel D

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant." Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 1964.image: National Park Service

The Memorial

Authorized by Congress in 1996, King's memorial is the first to honor an African American individual on the National Mall. The Memorial was completed in 2011 and on October 16, 2011, thousands joined President Barack Obama on the National Mall to officially dedicate the memorial.Learn more about the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the [National Park Service](https://www.nps.gov/mlkm/index.htm) and [The Memorial Foundation](https://www.thememorialfoundation.org/) websitesimages: The Memorial Foundation

Panel H

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." Letter from Birmingham, Alabama jail, April 16, 1963image: National Park Service

Anniversary tribute

Every year on the anniversary of Dr. King's birth, National Park Service rangers place a wreath at the Stone of Hope.image: National Park Service

MLK Sculpture

Chinese artist Lei Yixin was selected in 2007 to create King's likeness. He filled the walls of his studio with hundreds of photographs of Dr. King and worked closely with the Foundation and King family to select the material and create his likeness.The resulting 30-foot sculpture and mountain are composed of 159 granite blocks. Master Lei assembled and sculpted 80 percent of the artwork in his studio in China. It was disassembled, transported by ship to Baltimore and reassembled on site where he completed the last 20 percent.images: Martin Luther King National Memorial Foundation, via A.P. Ned Wallace / National Park Service

Panel N

"We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience." Montgomery, Alabama, March 25, 1965.image: National Park Service

Stone of Hope

"Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope." From the "I Have A Dream" speech in Washington, DC on August 28, 1963.The memorial's central feature is a massive granite mountain, from which a 30-foot tall slice has been pulled forward. Dr. King's likeness is carved on the Stone of Hope and serves as the focal point of the memorial. The detachment of the stone from the mountain symbolizes ultimate victory borne of initial disappointment.images: The Memorial Foundation

Panel O

"True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice." Stride Toward Freedom, 1958image: National Park Service

Panel P

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorialimage: National Park Service

Panel C

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." Strength to Love, 1963.image: National Park Service

Panel B

"We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." Washington National Cathedral, March 31, 1968.image: National Park Service

Panel I

"I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits." Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 1964image: National Park Service

Panel L

"Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies." New York City, April 4, 1967.image: National Park Service

Panel F

"I oppose the war in Vietnam because I love America. I speak out against it not in anger but with anxiety and sorrow in my heart, and above all with a passionate desire to see our beloved country stand as a moral example of the world." Anti-War Conference, Los Angeles, California, February 26, 1967image: National Park Service

Panel E

"Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in." March for Integrated Schools, April 18, 1959.image: National Park Service

Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist minister and social activist who became a notable figure during the U.S. civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until he was assassinated in 1968. He played a pivotal role in ending the legal segregation of African American citizens in the U.S., influencing the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.images: Nathan King / National Park Service AFP / Getty Images Hulton Archive / Getty Images

14 Walls

Inspiring words from Dr. King's writings, speeches and sermons are engraved on the North and South walls of the memorial.images: The Memorial Foundation

Panel A