A "Write" of Passage

During an informational tour of Boston University taken by my family a couple of years ago, there was an inevitable stop at the school's library. It was here I first heard of one of the school's more famous alums.  I strayed from the tour to get a closer look at some glass top tables filled with journals, photos, handwritten and typed documents generated by this individual. 

I recall a feeling of peace as I viewed the scribbled notes, lengthy letters, and deliberate imprints made from a long ago manual typewriter. Handwritten documents immediately give off a personal quality that invites you in.  I often feel melancholy over the popular decline in handwritten notes and letters - there is something so identifying and creative about forming letters by one's own hand instead of typing them, as I do here. 

I have dabbled with calligraphy since I was in college.  A course instructor once noted that calligraphers have a love for handwritten alphabets and their work helps restore the art form.  That statement resonated so strongly with me.  I do care about letter formations and how they relate to one another.  It was liberating to hear someone express those thoughts out loud.  I love viewing the work of calligraphers - it is high art made from low forms.  Handwritten notes rank the same for me. They are exquisite because they directly link the author and thoughts in a one-of-a kind manner.  We show more of ourselves when we take pen in hand.

Wistfully viewing the personal papers in the BU library that day, I thought about the cultivated work of the author and momentarily felt connected to it.  The papers were written well before he became a household name. They supplied a sliver of perspective into his thoughts before his world renowned status would emerge.

The items belonged to Dr. Martin Luther King.

Dr. King received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1955 from Boston University. Years later, in 1964 between the time when he was nominated and awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace, he contacted BU to donate his papers to the university as a way of protecting and preserving the work done up to that point.  The tumultuous times that surrounded his notoriety foretold the possibility that the papers would not be safe in Dr. King's  care. He had seen enough of the world and how his work resonated with supporters and detractors to know he was a lightening rod for both.

The following You Tube video made by BU briefly provides insight into how catalog of work made it to the school and how the the university makes it available to the public.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yfzvVNajTM

A few months after our initial visit, we returned for a second look at BU.  Coincidentally it was the day the university had a planned celebration to mark the completion of the digitization of Dr. King's work, making access that much easier for those seeking firsthand knowledge of the civil rights leader's early writings.  His sister and only living sibling, Professor Christine King Farris, was honored by the university that day and spoke at the ceremony.  As noted by the university, "Professor Farris’ talk was a moving discussion on the importance of education in the development of her brother’s work and career and an inspirational call to uphold the ideals of social justice and public service. She also spoke on her very personal memories of the King family."

Asked how he wanted to be remembered, it is said Dr. King insisted that no mention of his awards or honors be made at any funeral service for him.  All too soon, in 1968, that request was honored.  Instead, Dr. King was memorialized as a man who helped "feed the hungry, clothe the naked, be right on the [Vietnam] war question, and love and serve humanity".

I was deeply touched to see some of Dr. King's handwritten work.  Even after all that I had read and seen regarding his extraordinarily full, yet brief, thirty-nine year stay in this world, nothing was as powerful as looking at his penmanship and expressions first hand.  He was not perfect.  He just wanted to serve.