Exhibit chronicles last year of MKL's life

NORWICH – On the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, the Chenango County Council of the Arts in Norwich presents “Countdown to Eternity,” a rare and intimate view of Dr. King from the archives of world renowned photographer Benedict J. Fernandez.

Through this series of more than 70 black and white photographs, viewers share public and personal aspects of Dr. King’s life including the tragedy and introspection of his immediate family at the time of his death.

One of the world’s best known advocates of non-violent change, Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on Jan. 15, 1929. He was the grandson of the Reverend A.D. Williams, pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church and a founder of Atlanta’s NAACP chapter. As a student at Morehouse College, Crozen Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, and Boston University, Dr. King deepened his understanding of theological scholarship and Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent strategy of social change.

In 1967 King made his famous speech in front of the United Nations, calling the Viet Nam War a “racist” war. This soured his relations with President Lyndon Johnson and cost him the support of many white liberals.

Dr. King delivered his last speech during a bitter sanitation workers strike in Memphis. He admitted, “We’ve got some difficult days ahead, but it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountain top.” The following evening, April 4, 1968, he was assassinated. In 1986 his birthday became a Federal Holiday.

During the mid-60s, Ben Fernandez photographed throughout the streets of New York, becoming one of the most important street photographers of the time photographing a variety of socially significant events. Fernandez’ photographs of events and protest activities in the New York metropolitan area, as well as across the country, serve as a photographic diary of the nationwide protest movement of the 1960’s. Fernandez recognized the historical significance of the time and his role as photographer and recorder of events, which expanded from the Civil Rights Movement to the Women’s Movement and Gay Rights.