February 18, 2022
Martin Luther King, Jr.
in Connecticut
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We had a wonderful program yesterday celebrating Black History Month. The Bright Star Touring Theatre performed Let It Shine, and several of the scenes portrayed important milestones in the life of civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. However, one influential time in his life was not portrayed by the theatre troupe, his time in Connecticut.
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Did you know Martin Luther King, Jr. spent time in Connecticut?
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Many people are unaware of the fact that as a teenager Martin Luther King, Jr. spent two summers in Simsbury, CT, working in the tobacco fields. The first time was in June 1944, when he accompanied almost 200 other Morehouse College students north from Atlanta, to earn money for school.
At the time, Connecticut shade tobacco farmers were facing a labor shortage because of the war, and black college students found that they could earn more in the north than they could in the south, about $4 a day. So thousands of them traveled north during the 1940s to work on farms such as the ones run by Cullman Brothers, Inc. outside of Simsbury. |
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This photo is taken from the area where a dormitory used to stand. Researchers believe that King lived in that dormitory. (Originally provided by Catherine Labadia to the Hartford Courant)
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A sign from the Cullman Brothers tobacco farm, where Martin Luther King Jr. worked, now housed in the Simsbury Free Library.
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A Life Changing Experience
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It was during this summer that a fifteen year old Martin Luther King Jr. wrote to his mother and father about his experiences, including attending a nonsegregated church in Simsbury and a fine restaurant in Hartford.
"I never though that a person of my race could eat anywhere but we [strikeout illegible] ate in one of the finest resturant(sic) in Hardford(sic)."
(6-18-44 letter) |
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The Morehouse students attended integrated events, especially dances, at the Simsbury Grange pictured above. (Image originally provided by Catherine Labadia to the Hartford Courant) |
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A Call to Service
Dr. King would later describe that his call to the ministry “came about in the summer of 1944 when [he] felt an inescapable urge to serve society. In short, [he] felt a sense of responsibility which [he] could not escape,” and he would go on to write in his autobiography, “After that summer in Connecticut, it was a bitter feeling going back to segregation.”
(MLK in CT website, 02-18-2022)
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Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
What began in 2010, as a group of Simsbury High School students researching Dr. King's time in the area, ultimately grew into the unveiling of a memorial to Dr. King in January 2021. Visit the memorial on the grounds of the Simsbury Free Library, located at 749 Hopmeadow Street.
Pictured the New MLK Memorial |
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Celebrate Black History Month in Simsbury
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You can explore more about Martin Luther King Jr.'s time in Connecticut with the following websites and articles
Simsbury Historical Society's Simsbury Free Library The Trust for Public Land The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Volume I: Called to Serve, January 1929-June 1951
Risen, Clay, June 10, 2016, New York Times Martin Luther King in Connecticut: Closer to a Promised Land (This article points out various sites around Simsbury that Dr. King would have frequented in the 1940s) Kilgannon, Corey, November 12, 2021, New York Times Saving the Forgotten Connecticut Farm That Helped Spark M.L.K.’s Dream
and by watching the short documentary
Summers of Freedom: the Story of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Connecticut from Simsbury History Scholars. |
Please forward this email to anyone who might be interested. |
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