Yale Hosts Program on Cinque and Dr. Martin Luther King

In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 19, Yale University Library will hold a program featuring a slide presentation and talk, “Reflecting on the Legacy of Cinque and Martin Luther King, Jr.” Dr. King received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Yale in 1964. All members of the Yale and New Haven community are welcome to attend.

The slide presentation, “Amistad: The True Story Behind the Movie,” delivered by Judith Ann Schiff, chief research archivist, Manuscripts and Archives, will take place in the Sterling Memorial Lecture Hall, 120 High St., at 2 p.m. Ms. Schiff has also prepared a library exhibit showcasing manuscripts and drawings relating to the Amistad affair, including papers of the defense attorney for the captives, Roger Sherman Baldwin, Yale Class of 1811.

The most important manuscript in the exhibit is a long letter handwritten by Cinque, the African leader of the captives, while he was living in New Haven. Another significant document is a letter by Joseph Brown, a New Haven African-American civil rights leader, written in 1841 after the Africans were finally declared free.

Kate Reynolds, training and staff development officer for the library will facilitate an open discussion reflecting upon the legacy of Cinque and Dr. King following the presentation.