The sermons and speeches of Martin Luther King Jr., comprise an extensive catalog of American writing and oratory – some of which are internationally well-known, while others remain unheralded and await rediscovery.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a prominent African-American clergyman, a leader in the civil rights movement and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.Nobel Prize: Martin Luther King bio

King himself observed, "In the quiet recesses of my heart, I am fundamentally a clergyman, a Baptist preacher."Lischer, Richard. (2001). The Preacher King, p. 3.

Speechwriter and orator The famous "I Have a Dream" address was delivered in August 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Less well-remembered are the early sermons of that young, 25-year-old pastor who first began preaching at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1954.Fuller, Linda K. (2004). National Days/National Ways: Historical, Political, And Religious Celebrations around the World, p. 314. As a political leader in the Civil Rights Movement and as a modest preacher in a Baptist church, King evolved and matured across the span of a life cut short. The range of his rhetoric was anticipated and encompassed within "The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life," which he preached as his trial sermon at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in 1954 and every year thereafter for the rest of his life.Lischer, p. 66.

Sermons 1953 – "The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life"Lischer, p. 81. 1954 – "Rediscovering Lost Values", Sunday February 28, Detroit, Michigan.Full text available.

1955 - "The Impassable Gulf (The Parable of Dives and Lazarus)", Sunday October 2, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama.Full text available. 1956 - "The Death of Evil Upon the Seashore", Wednesday May 17, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City 1956 - "Living Under the Tensions of Modern Life", Sunday September (exact date unknown), Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama. 1956 – "Paul's Letter to American Christians", Sunday November 4, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama.Full text available.

1957 – "The Birth of a New Nation", Sunday April 7, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama.Full text available.

1957 – "Garden of Gethsemane", Sunday April 14, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama. 1957 – "Loving Your Enemies", Sunday November 17, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama.Full text available.

1960 – "Why Jesus Called A Man A Fool", Sunday May 15, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta Possibly the first time King delivered a variation of this sermon, see 27 August 1967 below 1963 – "Eulogy for the Martyred Children" (victims of 16th Street Baptist Church bombing), Wednesday September 18, Birmingham, Alabama 1964 - "Religious Witness for Human Dignity," May 31, Los Angeles Coliseum, California 1964 - "Religious Witness for Human Dignity," June 3, Goodwin Stadium, Arizona State University, and Tanner Chapel AME Church, Phoenix, Arizona 1966 – "Guidelines for a Constructive Church", Sunday June 5, Ebenezer Baptist Church, AtlantaFull text and audio available. 1967 – "The Three Dimensions Of A Complete Life", Sunday April 9, New Covenant Baptist Church, Chicago.Full text available 1967 - "Three Evils of Society" Address Delivered to the First Annual National Conference for New Politics 1967 - "The Casualties of the War in Vietnam" Address delivered at the Nation Institute 1967 – "Why Jesus Called A Man A Fool", Sunday August 27, Mt. Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church, Chicago Possibly the last time King delivered a variation of this sermon, which started at least as early as May 15, 1960 (see above)* Full Text and Audio Retrieved on May 4, 2018 YouTube Video Retrieved on May 4, 2018 Sermon Notes1Retrieved on May 4, 2018 Sermon Notes3 Retrieved on May 4, 2018 1967 – "A Knock at Midnight", Delivered on several occasions, including the Installation Service of Ralph Abernathy at Atlanta's West Hunter Baptist Church February 11, 1962.YouTube Video retrieved May 4, 2018 sermon notes1retrieved May 4, 2018 sermon notes2retrieved May 4, 2018 sermon notes3 retrieved May 4, 2018 sermon notes4 retrieved May 4, 2018 1968 – "The Drum Major Instinct", Sunday February 4, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta.Full text and audio available. 1968 – "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution", Sunday March 31, National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.Full text and audio available. King's last Sunday sermon. 1968 – "I've Been to the Mountaintop", Wednesday April 3, Mason Temple, Memphis, Tennessee.Full text and video available. 1968 – "Why America May Go to Hell", planned to be delivered on Sunday April 7, but never delivered due to his assassination.

Speeches

Year Date Title Location NotesUndated"Who is Truly Great"UnknownFrom the Archival Description: "Dr. King addresses the subject of individual greatness within society and how to truly go about achieving such a status. He begins by dispelling common signifiers of greatness before indicating that greatness can only be substantively measured through the ability to put others before self. Dr. King cites the life of Jesus Christ as an example of humility culminating into greatness."Undated"The Negro Past and Its Challenge for the Future"Boston, MANegro History Week, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Twelfth Baptist Church1954February 28"Rediscovering Lost Values"Detroit, MIA sermonic presentation containing some themes which would become part of King's eternal philosophy.March 7Untitled SpeechLansing, MIKing delivered a speech at the Union Baptist Church morning service. Later that day he spoke at Lansing's NAACP office.July 4"A Religion of Doing"Montgomery, ALFrom the Archival Description:1955Between June 28 and July 3"The Task of Christian Leadership Training for Education in the Local Community"Atlantic City, NJFrom the Archival Description: "King traveled to Atlantic City on 28 June to attend the National Sunday School and Baptist Training Union Congress.1 The subject matter of the following undated, typed manuscript indicates that it may have served as the basis for an address at the conference. King lays out three primary challenges facing local communities: economics, religious sectarianism, and race."May 8"The Crisis in the Modern Family"Montgomery, ALThis is not technically a speech, however its language and outline are similar to many speeches Dr. King delivered in forthcoming years. December 5 Montgomery Improvement Association mass meeting speechMontgomery, AL1956July 23 and October 16"Non-Aggression Procedures to Interracial Harmony"Cortland, NYFrom the Archival Description: "In this address to executives of the Home Mission Societies of Christian Friends, sponsored by the American Baptist Assembly, King responds to the question: "How will the oppressed peoples of the world wage their struggle against the forces of injustice?" Dismissing the use of violence as "both impractical and immoral," he endorses the method of nonviolent protest. This "mentally and spiritually aggressive" technique not only avoids "external physical violence," but "seeks to avoid internal violence [to the] spirit." He delivered the same speech on 16 October to the 131st Universalist Convention in Cortland, New York; it was edited for publication in the organization's journal. Significant variations between the Green Lake speech and the article are noted."December 15"Desegregation and the Future"New York, NYAddress Delivered at the General Assembly of the National Council of Churches From the Archival Description: "Referring to his recent experience with segregated dining policies at the Atlanta airport, King claims that equality is not only quantitative but also qualitative, "not only a matter of mathematics and geometry," but "a matter of psychology.""December 6"Remember Who You Are"Washington, D.C.(Howard University)From the Archival Description: "Dr. King addresses the student body and officials of Howard University with a poignant sermon entitled, "Remember Who You Are." The content of the sermon makes various references between Jesus, Shakespeare and Greek philosophers who sought to identify the mechanisms that made man important to society."1957Unknown"God's Judgment On Western Civilization"UnknownThis speech is documented as having occurred in 1957 but its content is unknown due its archival status.January 1"Facing the Challenge of A New Age," Address Delivered at NAACP Emancipation Day RallyAtlanta, GAFrom the Archival Description: "In celebration of the ninety-fourth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, King addresses seven thousand people at an NAACP rally at Big Bethel AME Church on Auburn Avenue. Atlanta police covering the event reported that people in the church were "over packed, standing on the sidewalks and the basement of the church and every available place.""February 17Untitled SpeechLansing, MI(Veterans Memorial Auditorium)Donations at the Lansing speech went to the victims of racially motivated bombings of homes and churches.April 3"Justice Without Violence"Waltham, MA(Brandeis University)From the Archival Description: "Dr. King gave this 1957 address to the Institute of Adult Education at Brandeis University in Boston, Massachusetts." April 10 "A Realistic Look at the Question of Progress in the Area of Race Relations,"St. Louis, MOFrom the Archival Description: "The Citizens Committee of Greater St. Louis, a federation of several area ministerial groups, sponsored King's address at a Freedom Rally held to raise funds for the MIA. John E. Nance, a Morehouse classmate of Martin Luther King Sr. introduced King, who captivated the "intensely integrated inter-racial audience" of eight thousand people at Kiel Auditorium."April 25"The Role of the Church in Facing the Nation's Chief Moral Dilemma"Nashville, TNFrom the Archival Description: "The day after receiving the Social Justice Award from the Religion and Labor Foundation in New York, King addressed the final morning session of the Conference on Christian Faith and Human Relations." May 17 "Give Us the Ballot"Washington, D.C.July 14"Overcoming an Inferiority Complex"Montgomery, ALTechnically not a speech, though its length and breath are similar to Dr. King's speech format. Moreover, this Sermon, along with his Sermon "Conquering Self-Centeredness", offers a look into how he kept himself leveled as his star rose.August 11"Conquering Self-Centeredness"Montgomery, ALCombined with Dr. Kings Sermon from July 14, 1957, this Sermon provides a window into how Dr. King managed his personality as his fame grew.December 4"The Christian Way of Life in Human Relations"St. Louis, MOAddress Delivered at the General Assembly of the National Council of Churches From the Archival Description: "In his second of two addresses during the annual meeting of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the US, King charges that "all too many ministers are still silent while evil rages."1 He calls on church leaders to be "maladjusted" to social injustice and asserts that "the aftermath of nonviolence is the creation of the beloved community, while the aftermath of violence is tragic bitterness.""December 5"Some Things We Must Do," Address Delivered at the Second Annual Institute on Nonviolence and Social Change at Holt Street Baptist ChurchMontgomery, ALFrom the Archival Description: