MLK's Day at NPC -- and the Return Visit That Wasn't

The National Press Club is where titans have come to speak -- FDR, Kennedy, Mandela, Reagan, Gorbachev -- and of course Martin Luther King.

It was July 19, 1962, when King walked into the Club's ballroom. This was eight days before he would be arrested a third time in Albany, Ga., at a prayer vigil, and spend two weeks in jail. It was a week after he was released from jail following his second Albany arrest, according to the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute. His ``I Have a Dream'' speech would occur more than a year later.

At the time it felt like a typical Club luncheon, former Club President John P. Cosgrove, 96, recalled.

Cosgrove brought along two African-American guests he wanted to introduce to King at a VIP reception. By the time they got there, however, the reception had ended and King was eating lunch. His guests were nonetheless thrilled.

"They talked about seeing Martin Luther King in person and being in the same room with him," Cosgrove said.

The audience of 400 included White House and congressional staff and "many from other nations," according to an account in the Club's publication, The Record.

King in his speech said the goal of the civil rights movement was simply "freedom."

"I believe we will win," he said, according to a copy of the speech, "because the goal of the nation is freedom. Our destiny is bound up with the destiny of America."

King drew two standing ovations, according to The Record.

More than a half-century later, the story of African-Americans and America is still being told at the National Press Club.

On Jan. 26, in the same ballroom where King spoke, I listened to a panel of journalists discuss "Coverage of Race in America: How are we doing? How can we do better?"

As described in our digital publication The Wire, Kenya Vaughn of the St. Louis American said the events in Ferguson, Mo., last year show that a post-racial society "does not exist." She expressed hope that "healing will come out of this tragedy."

On Jan. 21, I sat in the Club's First Amendment Room as King's contemporary, Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., described his 1961 Freedom Ride, and the racism and beatings he endured in his work for equality. "Never give up, never give in, never hate," he said.

The story continues. On Feb. 17, the first African-American Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder, will address a luncheon in the room where King spoke.

King's story with the Club was not supposed to end in 1962. He was scheduled to speak to about 800 people at the Club's first "Tuesday night forum" on the evening of April 9, 1968, according to a letter inviting him to the event.

King was assassinated April 4 in Memphis, Tenn. April 9, sadly, became the date of his funeral.

The story of the National Press Club and African-Americans, in many respects, began with King. He was the first African-American to address the Club, according to The Record.

I will ask the House Committee to find a suitable way -- a photo, a video or a written display -- to permanently remember King's historic visit in 1962.

King has a monument on the National Mall.

Now he will have a memorial at the National Press Club.

For a video clip of King's speech at the National Press Club, click here.

(Thank you to National Press Club Archivist Jeffrey Schlosberg, whose research made this column possible.)