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Remember When...Milwaukeeans marched in memory of Martin Luther King Jr.?

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@ Milwaukee Public Library

Donald Emmerich

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On Monday, April 8, 1968, Milwaukee paid tribute to the civil rights leader, who had been slain four days earlier in Memphis, Tenn. After a memorial service, Milwaukeeans marched Downtown from St. Boniface Catholic Church, then at 2609 N. 11th St., down Wisconsin Ave. to Plankinton Ave., and up Plankinton and N. 3rd St. With an estimated 10, 000 to 15, 000 people taking part, it was the largest civil rights march in the city's history. The marchers remained silent and orderly for the most part, although some businesses reported broken windows. Father James Groppi, at the time assigned to St. Boniface Church and active in Milwaukee's civil rights movement, is in the first row of marchers just to the right of the street center line. Milwaukee Journal photograph and information from the Milwaukee Public Library local history collection.
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Photograph
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Milwaukee Public Library

Record Harvested From

Recollection Wisconsin

Keywords

  1. African Americans
  2. Central Business Districts
  3. Civil Rights
  4. Civil Rights Demonstrations
  5. Crowds
  6. Groppi, James, 1930 1985
  7. Milwaukee
  8. Milwaukee (Wis.)
  9. Moon Fun Shop (Milwaukee, Wis.)
  10. Motion Picture Theaters
  11. Palace Theater (Milwaukee, Wis.)
  12. Pictorial Works
  13. Race Relations
  14. Wisconsin
  15. Wisconsin Avenue (Milwaukee, Wis.)
  16. Wisconsin Theater (Milwaukee, Wis.)

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March for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Vel Phillips papers, Correspondence, September 1967 Vel Phillips Papers, Correspondence-Opposition Mail, July 1967 Vel Phillips Papers, Correspondence - Opposition Mail, June 1967 Oral History Interview with Rev. William J. Miles, March 18, 1994 Remember When...6th and Wisconsin looked like this? Oral History Interview with Adolph Arms, August 17, 2007 Vel Phillips Papers, Correspondence-Opposition Mail, March 1967 Vel Phillips Papers, Correspondence, March 1966 Kerner Commission members press conference, August 29 1967 (partial) Man standing with umbrella Father Groppi and youth council members picket NAACP Youth Council marches with Fr. James Groppi Oral History Interview with Rev. B.S. Gregg, May 30, 1995 Oral History Interview with Reuben Harpole Jr., June 6, 1995 Oral History Interview with Frank Aukofer, November 16, 2007 NAACP march to honor Martin Luther King Jr., with James Groppi in the center, 1968 Oral History Interview with Juanita Adams and Arlene Johnson, June 15, 1995 Madison, Wisconsin, assembly chambers welfare protest, James Groppi center, 1969
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