Martin Luther King’s 1965 Madison visit a memorable one

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., meets with two UW–Madison students, Paul Mennes (left) and John Ebbot, before his address at the Stock Pavilion on Nov. 23, 1965.

Photo: courtesy UW-Madison Archives

As the community is poised to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., this weekend, it is interesting to note that a campus lecture by King about 40 years ago drew nearly 3,000 visitors and a standing ovation.

“A piece of freedom is not enough for us as human beings. A piece of liberty no longer suffices. Freedom is like life. Freedom is one thing. It is indivisible. You have it all or you are not free.”

Those were the words of King as he addressed a full house at the UW–Madison Stock Pavilion on Nov. 23, 1965.

“No section of the country has clean hands,” he was quoted as saying. “There is widespread economic deprivation of the Negro, both in North and South. The Negro in 1965 has more dignity, but he is still far from equal.”

King went on to say he was “still convinced that the practice and philosophy of non-violence is the most effective way. Love or perish. It is my great hope that as the Negro plunges deeper into the quest for freedom he will plunge deeper into the philosophy of non-violence.”

Press reports noted that King received a standing ovation from the predominantly student audience at the close of his talk, which was titled “The Future of Integration.”

The late John Patrick Hunter of the Capital Times reported that King concluded with the familiar phrase he had made so popular. “He expressed hope for the arrival of that day ‘when we are free at last, free at last, thank God, we are free at last,'” wrote Hunter.

King’s appearance was sponsored by what was then known as the Wisconsin Union Forum Committee. It was the forerunner of the Wisconsin Union Directorate’s Contemporary Issues Committee.

King’s 1965 visit to the university was not his first. He addressed an audience in the Wisconsin Union Theater on March 30, 1962.