Society, residents remember ’68 MLK visit By Amy Powell GROSSE POINTE — When Martin Luther King Jr., visited Grosse Pointe in the spring of 1968, he had devoted more than 12 years to a crusade that sought peace and equality among every color and creed. King’s untimely death three weeks later in Memphis cut short that individual, passionate mission, yet gave the Pointes community its own personal, but little known connection. Inside the gymnasium March 14 at what is now South High School, and enduring a handful of hecklers and protest signs, the southern-born reverend passed along a stirring message to the 2,700 or so members in the audience similar to what he had delivered to hundreds of thousands before, including his dissatisfaction with the Vietnam War. “He encouraged us to come together, not only in talking about integration, which wasn’t very prominent, but also talking about the war because he had come out against it,” said Farms resident Doris Cook, a then-Pierce Middle School social studies teacher. She has recently accounted her personal experience in oral history format for the Grosse Pointe Historical Society, in time for what would have been King’s 78th birthday Jan. 15. Cook decided to attend King’s speech, “The Other America,” on account of her minister, Harry Meserve, who was also chair of the Grosse Pointe Human Relations Council, the organization that made the famous visit possible. Cook remembers someone back then who was eager to see King, as well. “Across the hall from me was Harriet Marsh, the first African-American teacher in the Grosse Pointe school system. She wanted to go hear Dr. King, but she was afraid she would be harassed,” said Cook. “I told her, ‘You come with my husband and me, and everything will be fine.’ She came home with me and we had a quick dinner and went down and parked in a driveway on Washington and walked to the gym.” The three sat together on bleachers to the left of the stage, halfway up. “I could tell she was emotionally involved in his talk in a way my husband and I were not. She wanted to see things, so she stood up and then pointed to a woman sitting down in a chair on the floor of the gym. She said, ‘That’s Rosa Parks, she’s one of our heroines.’ I think I’m the only one who knew that Rosa Parks was present that day.” King’s visit, though today would have seemed like a privilege, was a controversial one, as racial tensions remained escalated, even after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It took the Human Relations Council two exhausting months in front of the Grosse Pointe School Board to receive permission to use South’s gym. Russell Peebles was one of the five trustees who voted to approve the request. “There were two members of the board who opposed the use and were very vocal in their opposition and the damage they thought would be caused by [King’s] visit. We compromised that the council would take out a $1 million insurance policy for that night,” recalls Peebles, a 48-year Park resident who now lives in St. Clair Shores. King’s evening visit required security not unlike that of a visiting dignitary – during the packed car ride into the city, the then-Grosse Pointe Farms police chief ended up sitting on King’s lap. “He came with some trepidation and danger that could have occurred. There was a very small cadre of people that didn’t support him and thought he was a communist,” said Peebles. “But he was well protected and handled himself in a gentlemanly fashion when he got some hecklers that night.” King even invited one of the protesting young men up to the podium, but when he got up to the stage, he hand nothing to say, Peebles remembers. “I think a lot of people certainly agreed with his message. He was preaching nonviolence at the time and thought things ought to be resolved peacefully, and he got warm reception for those remarks,” he said. “It was very inspirational. I was excited to be there.” Cook played the tape of King’s speech for her classroom every year on the anniversary of his death. “I thought his visit was great. It was something Grosse Pointe needed because we had felt a little removed from the civil rights movement. When he came, it was right front and center and brought the movement home,” she said. The historical society is still looking to collect memories from those throughout the Pointes who were able to take part in King’s visit. “Now that we have the perspective of almost 40 years later, there is a generation or two who may not even know that he spoke in Grosse Pointe or what message he was trying to deliver. It was a volatile time in the country to have him speak anywhere, and it is fascinating to read how Grosse Pointe played a role in that time, three weeks before his assassination,” said Suzy Berschback, society curator. “We have the rare opportunity, because some people had the foresight to give the society years later, the speech, photos and FBI documents.” In addition, Berschback has a taped version of the speech, available to be heard online; documents of the protesters and how they organized their demonstration; the returned check signed by King for speaking that night; and personal accounts of the people that helped to bring him to Grosse Pointe. Berschback said the society, in collecting these memories, is most excited about the new personal accounts it will receive to be shared with the community today, especially those who didn’t live through it. “There is so much to be learned by talking to the elders in our community, many who participated in World War II, Vietnam, Korea, JFK, the Civil Rights Movement and the Detroit riots – who better to ask about it than your grandparents, or parents or neighbors?” Anyone who remembers attending the speech is invited to e-mail the society at info@gphistorical.org or call the newsletter editor, Ann Marie Aliotta, at (313) 884-7369, with their remembrances to be used in an upcoming Moorings article. You can reach Amy Powell at apowell@candgnews.com |
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