Morehouse College News March 10, 2015 UGA Press to develop series based on Morehouse College MLK Collection The University of Georgia Press and Morehouse College's Martin Luther King Jr. Collection will collaborate to develop a groundbreaking new series of books using the Collection's archive of nearly 10,000 items. To be written by notable scholars of civil rights, race relations, and American history and politics, the series will provide insightful overviews and fresh analyses of Dr. King's intellectual, theological, and activist engagement. A variety of themes will be touched upon, including poverty, nonviolence, the Vietnam War, capitalism, racial discrimination, education, and civil rights. Acquired by Morehouse College in 2006, the King Collection represents a large portion of Morehouse alumnus Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy, spanning the years between 1944 and 1968. Included are hundreds of handwritten notes, personal letters, famous and lesser known speeches, manuscripts, and sermons. Highlights include King's 1964 Nobel Peace Prize lecture, his 1963 "Letter from Birmingham Jail," and an early transcript of his "I Have a Dream" speech. Of special significance are the 1,100 books from King's personal library, many annotated with handwritten notes. Drawing upon this wealth of primary documents and source information, the series authors will examine King's legacy as an activist, theologian, philosopher, and political theoretician. Viewing the papers through a twenty-first-century lens will illustrate how King's words, vision, and actions affected other movements and philosophies, and on how others responded to and perceived his work, both during his life and after his assassination. Acquisitions within the series will be overseen by Walter Biggins, senior acquisitions editor at the University of Georgia Press, who will work closely with a series advisory board. "I'm so excited about the series because it situates King within the larger and never-ending struggle for human rights, and because it extends the promise and mission of his work into the present day," said Biggins. "King should loom larger, and with more complexity, in the world as a result of the series's groundbreaking work." The King Collection's director, Vicki L. Crawford, will work with the UGA Press as the series' general editor, overseeing the vetting of new series prospects and coordinating with the authors. Crawford, herself a civil rights scholar, is coeditor, with Jacqueline Anne Rouse and Barbara Woods, of Women in the Civil Rights Movement: Trailblazers and Torchbearers, 1941-1965. "We are excited about the opportunity to collaborate with the University of Georgia Press to publish a series of books inspired by the unparalleled documents in the Morehouse College Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection," said Crawford. "As a gathering of teachable texts, this series is an important step in our mission to foster greater understanding of Dr. King and the movement for civil and human rights." Since its founding in 1938, the primary mission of the University of Georgia Press has been to support and enhance the University's place as a major research institution by publishing outstanding works of scholarship and literature by scholars and writers throughout the world. The UGA Press is the oldest and largest book publisher in the state, currently publishes 60-70 new books a year, and has a long history of publishing significant scholarship, creative and literary works, and books about the state and the region for general readers. For further information on the Morehouse College King Collection, visit www.morehouse.edu/kingcollection/index.php. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.