In March of 1967 MLK spoke at Central College in Pella. He was a guest of the school as they hosted a symposium related to urban reform. King was a Nobel laureate at the time and his acceptance of the engagement at a school of 1300 was a pleasant surprise. However, it was 1967 and many locals were not happy. King was scheduled to arrive Pella via DSM Airprt but the trip was re-routed via Ottumwa because of planned protests between DSM and Pella on Rt. 163. Locals did manage to burn a cross at the west end of Pella’s city limits on the day of his arrival...so the re-route from Ottumwa ( the east) proved wise indeed.
King spoke at Central on the night of March 22. Pella was my home town and I was lucky enough to spoon myself into the gymnasium and listen. I remember him as not as “big” as I thought he was and him having a deep, rich speaking voice, one that nearly defied needing a microphone. It was an interesting, memorable night for a barely 18 year old kid from small town Iowa. Proud that a man of his fame and stature came to my town to speak....and embarrassed at the fact that the local yockles thought it appropriate to burn a cross to protest his (Christian) message in my supposedly Christian town.
I didn’t know it then but in a little over a year, Martin Luther King would be shot dead.
King spoke at Central on the night of March 22. Pella was my home town and I was lucky enough to spoon myself into the gymnasium and listen. I remember him as not as “big” as I thought he was and him having a deep, rich speaking voice, one that nearly defied needing a microphone. It was an interesting, memorable night for a barely 18 year old kid from small town Iowa. Proud that a man of his fame and stature came to my town to speak....and embarrassed at the fact that the local yockles thought it appropriate to burn a cross to protest his (Christian) message in my supposedly Christian town.
I didn’t know it then but in a little over a year, Martin Luther King would be shot dead.
Last edited:
