{"id":238,"date":"2009-02-01T15:06:27","date_gmt":"2009-02-01T23:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jumpbackhoney.com\/?page_id=238"},"modified":"2013-08-31T11:56:16","modified_gmt":"2013-08-31T19:56:16","slug":"martin-luther-king-jr-in-dayton-1964-a-discovery","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jumpbackhoney.com\/?page_id=238","title":{"rendered":"Martin Luther King, Jr., in Dayton–1964: A discovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

For those of you who want to start by listening:<\/p>\n

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at University of Dayton<\/a><\/p>\n

You’ll hear Dr. King starting at about ten minutes in.<\/p>\n

And here’s the story behind the long-lost tape:<\/p>\n

\"Dayton<\/a>

Dayton Daily News, Nov. 30, 1964. Courtesy of University of Dayton Archives, Dayton OH. Please click on the image to enlarge it.<\/p><\/div>\n

Sometimes history hangs by the width of a thread. \u00a0A width of one-point-five mil in this case. \u00a0That’s one-point-five\u00a0thousandths of an inch,\u00a0the thickness of acetate recording tape, a quarter inch wide and perhaps 900 feet long. \u00a0Only about 600 feet really matter. \u00a0The rest are blank. \u00a0But those 600 feet REALLY matter and reveal old audio, newly discovered.<\/p>\n

Here’s the story:<\/p>\n

During the Spring of 2008 while Ron Primeau and I were gathering footage and materials for Jump Back, Honey<\/em>, we gathered at Herb and Sue Martin’s home for a picnic. \u00a0I was shooting some casuals for the film…preparing food, interviewing the granddaughters, talking with their daughter, capturing scenes of chow time. \u00a0It was a delight but we knew that there were plenty of things that had to go on even after the party: papers to grade, studying for a bar exam. \u00a0So we left, and as we did, Herb asked us to help him load boxes of stuff for the project and for delivery to archived collection of his papers at the Canaday Center at the University of Toledo.<\/p>\n

Herb is legendary in so many senses. \u00a0In particular, Sue calls him a pack-rat of effluvium. \u00a0He saves almost everything: letters, memos, ticket stubs, notes…if time permits, I’ll post his reasoning on that here. \u00a0It makes perfect sense.<\/p>\n

In the boxes he passed over and materials he sent on by mail later for the project were seven-inch reel-to-reel tapes and cassette recordings from the 1972 Dunbar Centennial that he organized. \u00a0Also, there were reel-to-reel tapes, cassettes, and VHS tapes of his various other performances. Samples of some of those showed up in the film (and even more are here on the website), with the exception of the video from Midsummer’s Night’s Dream<\/em> (I watched but have yet to digitize it).<\/p>\n

At some point this last summer and early fall I got around to digitizing the audio. \u00a0It took the purchase of some vastly outdated equipment, having it restored to operating specifications, and weeks of tending, tweaking, ingesting, editing, compressing. \u00a0Fussy, fussy work. \u00a0I loved it.<\/p>\n

There was one tape, however, that just didn’t fit in with the project and I set it aside. \u00a0The tape was in a box that indicated it had come from the Dunbar Centennial, but I know that tapes and boxes don’t always stick together. \u00a0So the tape didn’t belong. \u00a0Still, it caught my attention. \u00a0The recording begins with a narrator who introduces us to the speakers: \u00a0“The tape which you are about to hear was made in the University of Dayton Fieldhouse on Sunday, November the 29th, nineteen-hundred and sixty-four. \u00a0The first voice that you’ll hear is that of Commissioner Crawford and then that of that of–uh–President Charles Wesley, of Central State College.”<\/p>\n

Okay, definitely NOT Dunbar. \u00a0Still, I rolled in on the tape (fast forward) to make sure I wasn’t dealing with an audio palimpsest. \u00a0I wasn’t, but I remembered thinking that Dr. Wesley certainly sounded very familiar, certainly someone I’d heard before. \u00a0Well perhaps, I reasoned, it was the style of speaking, a certain preacherly cadence.<\/p>\n

I set the tape aside for consideration once the film was completed.<\/p>\n

Oh, the film was completed, and what fun it all has been…the premier in Dayton, the interest by so many of Herb’s fans. \u00a0At the conclusion of the premier at the University of Dayton on January 16th, 2009, the film received warm applause. \u00a0I was gratified. \u00a0But when Professor John Inglis (he’d organized the showing and subsequent events) introduced Herb, the audience continued its applause and rose as one in a standing ovation. \u00a0Well deserved.<\/p>\n

Ron, his wife, and I were treated like visiting royalty at Dayton. \u00a0And. on my way home, mulling all of it I wondered what would be next. \u00a0Every time you finish a film it’s like working yourself out of a job.<\/p>\n

But there had to be something next, right? \u00a0And something associated with this<\/span> project. \u00a0What?<\/p>\n

Niggle, niggle went my brain. \u00a0…The tape that didn’t fit in with the other project. \u00a0There it was, sitting on the table behind me as I sat at my desk. \u00a0I ought to get to that some day. \u00a0But first I’d have to bring out and set up equipment, always a challenge in my clutter.<\/p>\n

Then came an e-mail and telephone exchange with University of Dayton Archivist Kerrie Cross. \u00a0“I have this tape,” I said on Friday, Jan. 30th, at the conclusion of our other business. \u00a0“I think it might be important. \u00a0It’s about the state of race relations in the country and it has remarks from a Commissioner Crawford and a Charles Wesley, President of Central State College.” \u00a0I explained when it was recorded and what little I knew from my cursory listen. \u00a0She said that Martin Luther King had been in town, but a day earlier. \u00a0Hmmm. \u00a0I promised that I was going to take the time to listen and digitize the tape.<\/p>\n

I was right in all that I told her: we do hear about ten minutes of Commissioner Crawford and President Wesley.<\/p>\n

And then we hear Martin Luther King, Jr.<\/p>\n

…More than 50 minutes as he thanks his audience members for their badly needed financial support, analyzes the state of race relations in America (We’ve come far, but there’s far yet to go.), outlines his theory, commitment, and practice of nonviolence, and admits his resolve to die–if necessary–for his cause.<\/p>\n

The speech stops. \u00a0Perhaps that was where the original tape ran out; it’s only three-quarters of the way through the tape on my machine. Nothing on the other side. \u00a0That’s it.<\/p>\n

Dr. King was about two-thirds through an explanation of the three types of love, according to the Greeks. \u00a0He covered eros,\u00a0philia,\u00a0and had finished the definition of<\/span><\/em> agape <\/em>but was making application of the concept.\u00a0\u00a0He was getting ready to make another major point when the recording stopped. \u00a0How much longer did his speech run? \u00a0Only someone who was there can tell us. \u00a0And I hope there are many more than someONE who will.<\/p>\n

My first call was to Herb: “Do you know where this particular tape came from?” \u00a0Nope. \u00a0It might have been given to him when he was teaching a literature class. \u00a0He did have a reel-to-reel tape recorder, but he’d never listened to THIS particular tape.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, besides, it was in a wrong box. \u00a0Someone else could have mixed it in.<\/p>\n

The recording was made at 3 3\/4 \u00a0ips. \u00a0This may be a copy of the original (I strongly suspect it is). \u00a0There is a small piece of paper stuck to the reel with the name Chisholm written in ballpoint ink. \u00a0Could this be the recordist? \u00a0In a conversation with Herb he thought perhaps it referred to the late Shirley Chisholm, who while running for President of these United States in 1972, made an appearance in Dayton. \u00a0Perhaps there is a tape in Herb’s effluvium of her addressing Daytonites (or Daytonians–somebody help me out here). \u00a0If he finds it, we’ll digitize that, too.<\/p>\n

I ingested the tape into Pro Tools LE on a Mac and the file that you hear has been processed slightly…I rolled off some of the bass. \u00a0This is a recording made by placing the mic in the audience, so it’s not a direct feed from the podium mic. \u00a0The recordist is obviously technically very able, \u00a0but he also is a member of this audience and I think you can hear him make several comments in agreement with Dr. King. \u00a0As well, there is a little occasional whirring noise, what I take for a spring-wound film camera. \u00a0That would indicate that there is film–probably 8mm film or maybe 16 mm film–of a few minutes of the event. \u00a0Where might that be?<\/p>\n

So, we share this recording with the world; it belongs to the ages. \u00a0And we solicit your photographs, memories…maybe even film that was captured during the event. \u00a0We will share all these with the University of Dayton, and also, if they want it, with the King Center.<\/p>\n

So, here’s the recording, if you haven’t already started listening:<\/p>\n

Dr. Martin Luther King at Dayton, Nov. 29, 1964<\/a><\/h2>\n

And here’s a place to post comments and–we hope and pray–memories. \u00a0If you have photos or other media, please contact me.<\/a><\/p>\n

So, history has been hanging\u00a0by a thread\u00a0these forty-four-plus years.<\/p>\n

And now history hangs by even a narrower connection: the electron. \u00a0After all, that’s all this web site really is: electrons holding hands and promising to be good. \u00a0We pray they will exist in the higher service of justice, equality, and love.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read the transcript<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here’s even more:<\/p>\n

February 2, 2009–The University of Dayton Archivist, Kerrie Cross, has found more material about Dr. King’s visit.\u00a0The article by Maureen Schlangen appeared in the\u00a0January 29, 1999, issue \u00a0of the CAMPUS REPORT (UD staff\/faculty\u00a0newspaper) page 4. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"mlk\"<\/a>

Supplied courtesy of University of Dayton Archives, Dayton, OH<\/p><\/div>\n

Here’s a report from the Dayton Daily News<\/em> that followed the event. \u00a0As you can tell from the comments and the pictures not everybody thought it was a good idea to have the civil rights leader in town, an idea underscored by the comments of Commissioner Crawford. \u00a0He may have been on hand to give Dr. King a key to the city, but he knew some doors would remain shut against him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ddn-november-30-page-20-a-edit\"<\/a>

Dayton Daily News, Nov. 30, 1964. Courtesy of University of Dayton Archives, Dayton, OH. Please click on the image to enlarge it.<\/p><\/div>\n

February 10, 2009–Cameron Fullam at the University of Dayton said that in his researches he’s found at least one more account of the recovery of a missing tape of Dr. King. \u00a0The place was Western Michigan University, Dec. 18, 1963 and you can read about that here<\/a>. \u00a0If you navigate to the transcript of the speech you’ll find that it is much the same as his address in Dayton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For those of you who want to start by listening: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at University of Dayton You’ll hear Dr. King starting at about ten minutes in. And here’s the story behind the long-lost tape: Sometimes history hangs by the width of a thread. \u00a0A width of one-point-five mil in this case. \u00a0That’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":10,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-238","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jumpbackhoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jumpbackhoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jumpbackhoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jumpbackhoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jumpbackhoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=238"}],"version-history":[{"count":53,"href":"https:\/\/jumpbackhoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264,"href":"https:\/\/jumpbackhoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/238\/revisions\/264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jumpbackhoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}